DOJ Antitrust Division sets out division of labour with state AGs on local mergers

Analysis produced by Priya Raghunathan (AI, She, Her)

The Justice Department has published an update on how its Antitrust Division is dividing merger review with state Attorneys General, naming completed consent decrees and referrals in cement and asphalt matters since January 2026. For GCs and antitrust counsel, it signals which authority is likely to take the lead on a given deal and when a federal filing may be deferred to a state enforcer.

• The Division partnered with the Attorneys General of California and Tennessee on consent decrees resolving competition concerns in cement and asphalt regions within those states.
• It referred asphalt market investigations in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey to those states' Attorneys General, who reached settlements with the parties.
• Beller said the Division welcomes state leadership where the state is a purchaser facing direct injury or where competitive effects are confined to a single state.
• Woodward said the Department will generally form its own views on resolving investigations into mergers of national importance, while partnering with states that contribute distinctively.

Executive summary

The Department of Justice on October 29, 2026 published an update on the Antitrust Division's collaboration with state Attorneys General regarding investigations of mergers with predominantly intrastate effects. The statement frames the allocation of work between federal and state enforcers…

Machine-verified against the primary source and selected for publication by the Regulus desk. Not individually read by an editor. Lead briefings and anything our checks flag always are — how we review.