Balint, Warren Lead Lawmakers in Calling for Antitrust Regulators to Closely Scrutinize Fox Takeover of Roku, Ensure Review is Free from Political Favoritism

Text of Letter (PDF)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Representative Becca Balint (VT-AL), a member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust, and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, wrote to Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, who oversees the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, urging the agency to "closely scrutinize" Fox Corporation's (Fox) proposed $22 billion takeover of Roku, Inc. (Roku) and commit to reviewing the merger "free from political interference and in an impartial fashion."

"We are concerned that, given the Department of Justice's recent rubber-stamping of deals that may violate antitrust law - and in particular, your apparent role interfering in nonpartisan antitrust enforcement - the (DOJ) may not give this transaction the close review it deserves," wrote the lawmakers.

Representatives Jerold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust; Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.); Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.); Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.); Summer Lee (D-Pa.); and Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) also joined in signing the letter.

In recent months, senior DOJ leadership, including Associate Attorney General Woodward, and politically connected lobbyists reportedly intervening in antitrust enforcement actions such as the Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)-Juniper Networks merger settlement, which led to the firing of then-Antitrust Division senior official Roger Alford and another deputy after they objected to the interference.

If approved, the Fox-Roku merger would combine the country's two largest free, ad-supported streaming television services. The result would be greater control by Fox-Roku over how viewers watch TV, the device they use to watch, and what programs they watch, meaning fewer choices for viewers and likely highercosts. The entertainment and streaming industries have seen rapid consolidation in the previous year, including with the Disney-Fubo and Paramount-Skydance deals.

"Eliminating a significant competitor would reduce consumer choice for free streaming services and could give the combined entity market power to start charging for a previously free service," warned the lawmakers.

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, who currently leads the DOJ's Antitrust Division, has reportedlydirected Antitrust Division attorneys to settle antitrust law enforcement cases instead of taking them to trial. Additionally, just three days after his recent designation, Antitrust Division attorneys were reportedly told that the review of the potential Paramount-Warner Bros. merger would be closed.

"We are concerned that settlements invite opportunities for more backroom deals like the ones we have seen during this administration, and will weaken enforcers' ability to go after antitrust violations in order to lower prices for American families," wrote the lawmakers.

Antitrust law prohibits mergers whose effect "may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly," and the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission's Merger Guidelines require agencies to "examine whether a trend toward consolidation in an industry would heighten … competition concerns" when investigating whether a merger violates the antitrust laws.

"In order to uphold the Antitrust Division's responsibility to protect competition and consumers, we urge DOJ to closely scrutinize the proposed Fox-Roku deal under antitrust law and seek your commitment that the review will be conducted free from political interference and in an impartial fashion," the lawmakers concluded.

Senator Warren has led the way in fighting back against the Trump administration's apparent use of federal agencies for political favoritism:

• In July 2026, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) celebrated the news that a coalition of 12 attorneys general filed a lawsuit challenging the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, saying the "megamerger would mean higher costs and fewer choices for Americans."

• In April 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) joined Senator Booker (D-NJ) in introducing the Correcting Lapsed Enforcement in Antitrust Norms for Mergers Act (CLEAN Mergers Act) to restore integrity and independence to federal antitrust enforcement.

• In April 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Klobuchar (D-Minn.) led Senator Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Representatives Jayapal (D-Wash.), Deluzio (D-Pa.), Balint (D-Vt.), Craig (D-Minn.), Nadler (D-N.Y.), and Raskin (D-Md.) in requesting that the Department of Justice (DOJ) Acting Inspector General (IG) William M. Blier open a new, independent investigationinto potential corruption involving the DOJ's antitrust-related activity.

• In February 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Balint (D-Vt.) led colleagues in pressing Attorney General Pam Bondi on whether there was corruption and political favoritism at the Department of Justice (DOJ) involving the agency's questionable review of the massive merger between real estate giants Compass and Anywhere Real Estate. The lawmakers' push followed the ouster of top DOJ antitrust official Gail Slater.

• In December 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to recuse herself from the Department of Justice (DOJ)'s review of any Warner Bros. merger due to potential conflicts of interest related to her former employer, lobbying firm Ballard Partners. A DOJ spokesperson had indicated that Bondi would lead the Trump administration's review of the merger, alongside DOJ Antitrust head Gail Slater.

• In September 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Booker (D-N.J.), and Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sounded the alarm on Stanley Woodward's nomination for Associate Attorney General at the Department of Justice (DOJ), ahead of his Senate confirmation vote expected as early as next week as part of a batch of 100 nominees. Since April 2025, Woodward had served as Counselor to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

• In June 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Booker (D-N.J.), and Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote to Judge P. Casey Pitts of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, urging the court to use its power under the Tunney Act to determine whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) approved Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.'s (HPE) $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks (Juniper) based on political favors.

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