Judiciary Democrats Challenge DOJ’s Live Nation-Ticketmaster Settlement, Urge Court to Investigate Trump Administration’s Backroom Deal

Washington, D.C. (September 9, 2026)—On Friday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust, submitted a public comment challenging the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) controversial settlement with Live Nation-Ticketmaster after President Trump, White House officials and politically connected lobbyists intervened to derail DOJ’s antitrust case and keep the companies together.

The settlement marked an abrupt reversal for DOJ, which had sought to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster after alleging that the company used its monopoly power to suppress competition, raise prices and reduce choices for fans, artists and venues. Instead, DOJ abandoned its push to separate the companies and agreed to largely behavioral remedies that leave the core Live Nation-Ticketmaster structure intact. The Ranking Members are urging the court to closely scrutinize both the settlement and how it was reached.

“Our serious concern is not simply that political officials may have participated in the settlement. It is that corrupt and improper influences successfully pushed a resolution that betrays the public interest,” wrote the Ranking Members.

The Members raised concerns that the settlement was the product of extraordinary intervention by politically connected lobbyists, White House officials and senior DOJ political appointees. Senior DOJ political appointees reportedly directed Antitrust Division staff to drop their demand that Live Nation divest Ticketmaster, and key settlement negotiations later moved from DOJ to the White House. Shortly before the settlement, President Trump directed a senior DOJ official to settle the case after meeting with Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino about improving bookings at the Kennedy Center.

DOJ’s own lead trial attorney reportedly learned of the settlement only when the court did and said he was neither asked for nor provided input, despite believing DOJ was going to win the case. The court called DOJ’s failure to disclose the settlement during the ongoing trial “entirely unacceptable” and an “absolute disrespect for the court, the jury and this entire process.”

Thirty-four state attorneys general—including 13 Republicans—rejected DOJ’s settlement and continued the case without the federal government. On April 15, 2026, a unanimous jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster liable on every count.

The Live Nation settlement follows a similar pattern of political interference in DOJ antitrust enforcement. Last year, the Ranking Members filed a Tunney Act comment challenging DOJ’s settlement of the HPE-Juniper merger after reports that politically connected lobbyists circumvented Antitrust Division officials and successfully pushed the Administration to reverse course. 

Former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roger Alford, a Republican who served as the second-highest-ranking antitrust official in the Trump DOJ, says he was fired for insisting that cases like Live Nation-Ticketmaster be decided “on the merits rather than settled on the cheap at the request of lobbyists,” and later accused DOJ of settling the Live Nation case “for a song.” He had previously warned that Live Nation-Ticketmaster hired a “bevy of cozy MAGA friends” to lobby the Administration in defense of their monopoly.

The Ranking Members also emphasized that their comment was filed as part of the Tunney Act review, which requires an independent determination of whether the settlement serves the public interest. As Senator Tunney made clear, “the court is not a rubber stamp for the parties’ agreement.” The Members urged the court to exercise its independent judgment and use every tool at its disposal to fully evaluate the settlement, the circumstances under which it was reached, and whether it adequately protects competition and the public interest.

In May, Ranking Member Raskin led a bicameral spotlight forum examining Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s monopoly power and DOJ’s settlement, hearing testimony from state law enforcement officials, antitrust experts, artists and independent venue owners about the deal’s impact on consumers and competition.

Click here to read the comment.