The government is trying to prove that four big tech firms, Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta, have violated antitrust laws. These companies could end up being forced to divest themselves of key business units or adhere to some draconian changes about how they conduct their business. The government shutdown has an impact on two of the four aforementioned tech giants. That's because the cases against Apple and Amazon have been put on hold.
Google's case and Meta's case will not be paused by the government shutdown
Amazon's trial doesn't start until February of 2027 and Apple's law team is scheduled to be handling depositions and discovery as late as January 2027. The Judges in both cases have granted the government's request to put the trials on hold until federal funding is once again flowing through the pipeline. As for Google and Meta, the shutdown will have no impact on their cases, and they will both continue despite the shutdown.
In one of Google's cases involving its search engine, the government requested that the case be put on pause until funding is resumed. Judge D.C. District Judge Amit Mehta, noting that antitrust litigation continued during the 2019 government shutdown, ruled against that request. Additionally, that case is awaiting Judge Mehta's ruling finalizing his earlier decision. That decision was to allow Google to keep its Chrome Browser.
Judge Mehta might have ruled to continue Google's case despite the shutdown so that he could wrap things up
The ruling also will prevent Google from signing exclusive deals that force its partners to only use Google Search. The deal will still allow Google to pay Apple and Samsung billions to make Google the default search engine on their products. On October 8th, Judge Mehta will hold the hearing to finalize his rulings regardless of whether the U.S. government is still shut down.
Judge Amit Mehta is presiding over the cases involving Google. | Image credit-American Greatness.
Stephen Calkins, a law professor at Wayne State University, said that Judge Mehta might have decided to go ahead with Google's case even with the shutdown because he would like to wrap it up. "My guess is that Mehta is almost done with this and wants it resolved before technology changes … whereas Amazon and Apple are much earlier."
The DOJ has another case against Google in progress related to Google's alleged monopoly in the online ad market. The DOJ attorneys working the case asked for a pause in court. The request was denied by the judge.
Judges have discretion whether to pause litigation
Judges have the discretion whether to pause litigation. However, even during a government shutdown, the FTC and DOJ must continue working a case if ordered to do so by the judge. With the Amazon case, the FTC asked to suspend proceedings in the case which deals with Amazon allegedly prioritizing its own products in its online store.
The Federal Judiciary system announced that it plans to have courts remain open through October 17th at the least. Court fee balances and other funds that don't rely on federal funding will be used. In 2018, during a five-week government shutdown, the judiciary remained operational for the entire period.
Should all cases be put on hold during the government shutdown
Yes. Why allow some to pause and others to continue?
0%
No. Let each presiding judge decide.
80%
I have no opinion.
20%
You might know that essential government workers, such as Air Traffic Controllers, continue to work during the government shutdown. But they do not get paid the backpay they are owed for the hours they worked during the shutdown until the flow of funds resumes.
When it comes to deciding whether a case should continue to be heard in court during a government shutdown, the judge's decision must be fair to both sides. That's the opinion of Vanderbilt University law professor Rebecca Haw Allensworth. The judge needs to determine how much unpaid work the government's lawyers need to get done. "If you ask an entire trial team to go to trial on furlough, that seems pretty unfair," she said.
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