Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust lawyers are "nearing a recommendation" to block Comcast's proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable, Bloomberg reported today.

To prevent the merger, the DOJ would have to sue in federal court and prove that the transaction is likely to reduce competition. The DOJ has made no public announcement, but Bloomberg cited anonymous sources while reporting that "The antitrust lawyers will present their findings to Renata Hesse, a deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust, who will decide, along with the division’s top officials, whether to file a federal lawsuit to block the deal."

The findings could be submitted as soon as next week, Bloomberg wrote.

There is also a separate review underway at the Federal Communications Commission that could block the deal if it finds it is not in the public interest. The FCC could also approve the deal and impose conditions designed to benefit consumers, as it did when Comcast bought NBCUniversal in 2011.

Comcast has argued that the merger of the two largest cable companies in the nation would not limit competition because they don't compete against each other for customers in any city or town. Opponents have argued that increasing Comcast's size would give it too much power in negotiations with TV programmers and online video providers.

DOJ opposition sank a previous proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile in 2011. But Comcast could try to defeat the DOJ in court.

“There is no basis for a lawsuit to block the transaction,” Comcast VP of Government Communications Sena Fitzmaurice told Bloomberg. The merger “will result in significant consumer benefits—faster broadband speeds, access to a superior video experience, and more competition in business services resulting in billions of dollars of cost savings.”

Time Warner Cable spokesman Bobby Amirshahi also told Bloomberg that “we have been working productively with both DOJ and FCC and believe that there is no basis for DOJ to block the deal.”

Earlier today, a few dozen organizations wrote to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler that "the sheer size and scope of a combined Comcast/Time Warner Cable, coupled with its incentive to protect its core video business from innovative 'over-the-top' online video providers, would allow it to threaten nascent competition in so many different ways." The letter, signed by Dish, Cogent, Common Cause, Free Press, the NTCA Rural Broadband Association, Consumers Union, and others, said there are no conditions that could prevent the harms of the merger.