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Law360 (February 3, 2021, 7:54 PM EST) -- U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., escalated his feud with Big Tech on Wednesday by introducing a measure to block mergers and acquisitions by some of the largest firms in the sector, calling out Amazon and Google by name.
Hawley's legislation, taking the form of a budget amendment, would impose a "presumptive prohibition on all mergers and acquisitions by companies that operate market dominant online platforms."
"Big Tech robber barons at companies like Amazon and Google have taken advantage of crippling restrictions placed on their smaller competitors to consolidate power even further," Hawley said in a statement. "They know they have been handed an incredible opportunity and are wasting no time getting to work. Congress must act to stop this unprecedented concentration of corporate power from becoming the new normal."
The lawmaker cited Big Tech turning large profits while small businesses struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hawley, a freshman and one of the Senate's most outspoken conservatives, has engaged in a war of words against the largest tech companies since joining the body two years ago, contending they have become too powerful. But his proposal also aligns with a concept floated by congressional Democrats last year to rein in Big Tech consolidation.
The House antitrust panel's majority staff report following a probe of the sector concluded then that lawmakers should "consider codifying bright-line rules for merger enforcement, including structural presumptions."
"Under a structural presumption, mergers resulting in a single firm controlling an outsize market share, or resulting in a significant increase in concentration, would be presumptively prohibited under Section 7 of the Clayton Act," the Democratic report said.
Google is already under siege from antitrust enforcers, though not specifically to block additional mergers. The U.S. Department of Justice and several states in October filed an enforcement action accusing the company of stifling competition in order to maintain its monopoly position in search and search advertising markets.
Along with criticizing what he sees as excessive consolidation in the tech industry, Hawley has gone after platforms for purportedly anti-conservative bias, and pushed legislation last fall that would let users sue them if allegedly silenced or discriminated against.
Amazon's corporate office and Google's did not immediately responded to a request for comment Wednesday.
--Additional reporting by Matthew Perlman, Dave Simpson and Kelcee Griffis. Editing by Gemma Horowitz.
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