2 October 2013
A US Government shutdown began on 1 October 2013 after Congress failed to pass a spending bill to fund government operations for the next fiscal year.
Until Congress can agree on funding, non-essential government services will be suspended. The shutdown will impact key US competition authorities, including the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
For the FTC this means:
- all non-merger investigations will be suspended;
- the FTC will continue to accept merger filings and will challenge a merger if allowing it to proceed could impair the FTC’s ability to remedy the merger at a later date;
- although the Courts will continue to function, the FTC will seek to adjourn any ongoing litigation that doesn’t involve a risk to life or property; and
- the FTC will continue to pursue cases where it is unable to secure an adjournment.
The DOJ will similarly seek to adjourn any civil hearings that do not involve a risk to life or property, but will continue to litigate if those adjournments are not granted. It will continue to pursue criminal proceedings.
The FTC has suspended its website and the DOJ is no longer updating its own.
