Antitrust Enforcement in Government Procurement: Enforcement Trends at the Five-Year Anniversary of the Antitrust Division's Procurement Collusion Strike Force

• Pages: 18-25
• Date: 01 April 2025
• Published date: 01 April 2025
• Author: Mark Grundvig,Michelle Freeman,Lea Gulotta James,Katharine Young
• Subject Matter: Derecho Público y Administrativo

18

CRIMINAL JUSTICE | SPRING 2025

Five years ago, in November 2019, the US Depart-

ment of Justice (DOJ) formed the Procurement

Collusion Strike Force (Strike Force) in an ef‌fort

to “combat antitrust crimes and related schemes in

government procurement, grant, and program fund-

ing.” Procurement Collusion Strike Force, Antitrust

Div., US Dep’t of Just. (Sept. 24, 2024), https://tinyurl.

com/26f6wzas. The Strike Force is an interagency part-

nership composed of prosecutors from the DOJ’s Anti-

trust Division, multiple US Attorneys’ Of‌f‌ices through-

out the country, the Federal Bureau of Investigation,

the Department of Defense, and inspectors general

for certain federal agencies such as the Department of

Commerce and the Department of Transportation.

The Strike Force conducts two major activities:

(1)The Strike Force facilitates training for procurement

of‌f‌icials and government contractors on antitrust risks

in the procurement process. (2) It investigates and

prosecutes individuals and organizations that engage

in procurement-related crimes, including crimes

involving federal, state, or local contracts as well as

international antitrust schemes impacting US inter-

ests. These crimes include bid rigging (e.g., where

parties agree to bid in such a way that one party will

BY MARK GRUNDVIG, MICHELLE FREEMAN, LEA GULOTTA JAMES,

AND KATHARINE YOUNG

win), price-f‌ixing (e.g., where parties agree on what

prices or what price range to charge), and market allo-

cation (e.g., where parties agree to split up customers,

territories, or product markets). The DOJ has assert-

ed that eliminating these types of collusive behaviors

MARK GRUNDVIG is a partner at Foley & Lardner

LLP in Washington, DC. He focuses his practice on

antitrust investigations and litigation, white collar

criminal defense and litigation, government and

congressional investigations, and corporate compliance.

MICHELLE FREEMAN is a senior counsel and litigation

lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP. She is a member of the

rm’s Government Enforcement Defense & Investigations,

Antitrust & Competition Practices, and Business Litigation

& Dispute Resolution practice groups. and is the co-chair

of the ABA Women in Antitrust Litigation subcommittee.

LEA GULOTTA JAMES is an associate at Foley &

Lardner LLP in Boston in the Business Litigation &

Dispute Resolution and Government Enforcement &

Defense Investigations practice groups. Her practice

focuses on litigating, conducting internal investigations,

and advising clients in the health care space.

KATHARINE YOUNG is an associate at Foley & Lardner

LLP in Washington, DC. She works primarily in the rm’s

Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice group.

ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT

IN GOVERNMENT

PROCUREMENT

Enforcement Trends at the

Five-Year Anniversary of the

Antitrust Division’s Procurement

Collusion Strike Force

Published in Criminal Justice, Volume 40, Number 1, Spring 2025. © 2025 by

the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.

This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in

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without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.