Impacts on U.S. Antitrust Enforcement as the Shutdown Takes Hold

The federal government shut down at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, triggering a pause of many “non-excepted” federal operations. Both the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have enacted their published contingency plans and reduced staff accordingly. In accordance with directives in the agency contingency plans, agency lawyers have paused enforcement activity that is not deemed time sensitive and sought (with mixed success) to stay litigation or continue certain filing deadlines.

Key Takeaways for Antitrust Enforcement Under the Shutdown:

• Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) merger filings will proceed and statutory filing deadlines and waiting periods will remain unchanged. Applicants may face delays and/or request to pull and refile to extend statutory waiting periods until the shutdown concludes.
• The FTC has suspended all non-merger investigations, except as needed to prevent statutory limitations from barring the Commission’s monetary remedies. The DOJ contingency plan does not directly address civil investigations, but the agency has made the decision to pause certain investigations on a case-by-case basis in light of limited resources and agency priorities.
• Federal courts remain open through at least October 17, 2025, but agency litigation may be affected on a case-by-case basis. DOJ criminal litigation will proceed without interruption. Agencies will seek to delay some or all of their civil litigation, though courts are not obligated to grant these requests. Litigants should check for updates from the respective district or judge on active cases and continue to prepare for all scheduled proceedings unless notified otherwise.

Department of Justice

The DOJ published a contingency plan on September 29, 2025, in preparation for a potential government shutdown, along with guidance for parties who have or are undergoing investigations, cases, or filings during this time.¹ The Antitrust Division is not subject to broad furlough during the shutdown.² The DOJ’s antitrust enforcement activities will continue but may be limited due to a reduction in personnel to only critical positions (60 percent of 761 positions).

1. Criminal Enforcement: Criminal antitrust enforcement will continue without interruption. Firms involved in or anticipating criminal investigations should not expect delays due to the shutdown.
2. Civil and Merger Litigation: Civil antitrust litigation, including merger-related challenges, will proceed but will be limited. The DOJ will seek continuances in civil litigation but will continue to litigate cases where such requests are denied. The DOJ will continue to prepare cases that must be filed to meet statutory deadlines—for example, merger challenges—if a waiver or exemption cannot be obtained.
3. Non-Merger Civil Investigations: The DOJ contingency plan does not directly address non-merger civil investigations. Firms can expect case-by-case determinations from leadership as to whether and how vigorously investigations continue during the shutdown in light of agency priorities and limited personnel.
4. Merger Enforcement and HSR Filings: Similarly, the DOJ contingency plan does not directly address pre-merger notification. In coordination with the FTC, the DOJ will continue to accept filings and open preliminary investigations, but firms may face delays in processing or requests to pull and refile due to limited agency resources.

Federal Trade Commission

The FTC also released a contingency plan on September 29, 2025, outlining its operations during the government shutdown. The FTC’s activities will continue but in a limited capacity.³ Firms should anticipate delays in merger review and enforcement timelines.

1. Administrative Litigation: The Commission will stay all administrative litigation. All deadlines are extended by the number of days the agency is closed due to the shutdown.
2. Civil Litigation: In ongoing civil litigation matters, the FTC will seek suspension of trials, hearings, and other court deadlines where possible. For matters where preliminary relief has already been obtained or no such relief is sought, FTC attorneys will notify opposing parties and request suspension of trial dates, hearings, and related filings. The FTC will continue to litigate matters where such requests are denied.
3. Non-Merger Civil Investigations: All non-merger civil investigations conducted by the FTC are suspended for the duration of the shutdown, unless continuation is deemed necessary to prevent statutes of limitations from precluding monetary remedies available to the Commission. All Civil Investigative Demands (CID) and subpoenas will be extended by the number of days the agency is closed due to the shutdown, unless there is a Commission order.
4. Merger Enforcement and HSR Filings: The Premerger Notification Office (PNO) will continue to accept and process new HSR filings, but it will not answer questions or provide advice related to these matters. The PNO will continue HSR investigations, and statutory HSR time limits remain unchanged. The FTC recommends continuing to file within the normal transaction timeframe, but firms can expect delays in processing and possibly limited operating hours at the PNO due to staff furloughs. Firms can expect increased requests from the agency to pull and refile.

Courts

Federal courts will remain open for now and the U.S. Judiciary will continue normal paid operations through at least Friday, October 17, 2025.⁴ Clients should carefully monitor district-wide and case-specific orders for any updated court deadlines because management of cases where the government is a party varies by jurisdiction and by judge. Many court websites state broadly that previously scheduled deadlines, hearings, and arguments are proceeding as scheduled.⁵

However, some districts are categorically extending or suspending certain litigations. Chief Judge James E. Boasberg of the District for the District of Columbia has ordered all filing and discovery deadlines imposed in civil actions with the United States government as a party to be extended by the length of the shutdown (in days) plus ten days.⁶ The order excludes responses to temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions. The Northern District of Ohio has ordered all civil litigation involving the U.S. government as a party to be immediately suspended.⁷ The District of New Jersey has also suspended all civil litigation involving the U.S. government with limited exceptions, including a notable carve-out for the ongoing antitrust suit United States v. Apple, No. 24-cv-04055 (JXN).⁸

Individual judges are also issuing orders in response to government requests for stays. In the antitrust tying case United States v. Live Nation Entertainment, Judge Arun Subramanian of the SDNY (which has not issued any district-wide order concerning governmental litigation) denied the DOJ’s motion to stay on October 1, 2025.⁹ In another high-profile antitrust matter, Judge Amit Mehta rejected the DOJ’s request to delay a pending antitrust hearing concerning remedies in the Google Search litigation. Judge Mehta’s order mirrors the approach of other D.D.C. courts in previous government shutdowns (e.g., United States v. US Airways Group where the court previously denied the government’s request to stay a merger action due to a government shutdown).¹⁰

Parties should check with each court’s website, each judge’s standing orders, and case-specific orders for guidance to meet the correct deadlines.

^[1]U.S. Dep’t of Just., FY 2025 Contingency Plan 3 (Sept. 29, 2025), available at https://www.justice.gov/jmd/media/1377216/dl.

^[2]Id. at 9.

^[3]The maximum number of excepted personnel at the FTC will be 34 percent (402 out of 1183 positions). Fed. Trade Comm’n, FY 2025 Shutdown Plan (Sept. 29, 2025), available at https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/FTC%20Shutdown%20Plan.pdf.

^[4]U.S. Courts, Judiciary Still Operating During Shutdown, Judiciary News (Oct. 1, 2025), available at https://www.uscourts.gov/data-news/judiciary-news/2025/10/01/judiciary-still-operating-shutdown-starts.

^[5]E.g., U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Cir., Court Operations in the Event of a Government Shutdown (2025), available at https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/news/court-operations-event-government-shutdown-0; U.S. Dist. Court for the W. Dist. of N.Y., https://www.nywd.uscourts.gov/.

^[6]Standing Order, In re: Stay of Civ. Proc. Involving the U.S. in Light of Lapse of Appropriations, No. 25-55 (JEB) (D.C.C. Oct. 1, 2025).

^[7]Gen. Order, In re: Holding in Abeyance Civ. Matters Involving the U.S. as a Party During Gov’t Shutdown, No. 2025-20 (N.D. Ohio Oct. 1, 2025).

^[8]Standing Order, In re: Stay of Civil Matters Involving: The U.S. as a Party, No. 2025-06 (D.N.J. Oct. 3, 2025).

^[9]Order Denying Without Prejudice, U.S. v. Live Nation Ent., No. 1:24-cv-03973-AS-SLC (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 1, 2025).

^[10]Ryan Knappenberger, Judge denies DOJ bid to delay Google antitrust hearing during shutdown, Courthouse News Service (Oct. 2, 2025), available at https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-denies-doj-bid-to-delay-google-antitrust-hearing-during-shutdown/; United States v. US Airways Grp., 979 F. Supp. 2d 33, 34-35 (D.D.C. 2013).