Promoting Competition in the American Economy

July 9, 2021

Executive Order 14036 directed over a dozen federal agencies to pursue 72 specific initiatives targeting anti-competitive practices, including promoting right-to-repair, restricting non-compete agreements, increasing healthcare price transparency, and addressing consolidation in agriculture and technology markets. While many initiatives fell within existing agency authority under antitrust and consumer protection statutes, the order's sweeping scope raised questions about whether the executive branch can effectively direct such comprehensive economic policy without new legislation. The constitutional significance centered on whether the order represented legitimate coordination of existing agency authority or constituted executive-driven industrial policy that should originate in Congress.