Good afternoon. Is the Justice Department under President Trump more willing to block mergers than previously thought? It may depend on the kind of transactions we’re talking about. A group of senators sent a letter to the D.O.J. demanding answers as to whether President Trump is influencing the department’s negotiations with AT&T. The latest developments in the tax overhaul remain on our minds, especially since the Senate is proposing delaying a cut to the corporate rate until 2019. More on all that in a moment.

Senators question whether Trump is influencing the Justice Department’s negotiations with AT&T

Breaking: Senator Amy Klobuchar, ranking member of the Antitrust Subcommittee, and a group of seven senators sent a letter to the Department of Justice demanding answers to questions they posed months ago about whether President Trump had pressured the D.O.J. to force the sale of CNN as part of AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner:

“We write to urge Department of Justice to oppose any attempt by the White House to interfere with antitrust law enforcement decisions, particularly for political reasons. Several of us raised this concern four months ago after the New York Times reported that White House advisers ‘discussed a potential point of leverage over their adversary [CNN], a senior administration official said: a pending merger between CNN’s parent company, Time Warner and AT&T,’” the senators wrote. “We asked whether these reported discussions occurred and if they did, whether they complied with existing law. We also stressed that the content of CNN’s press coverage had no place in antitrust enforcement. To date, we have received no answers from either the Department of Justice or the White House in response to our questions.”

The senators continued:

“These outstanding questions are especially concerning in light of yesterday’s news reports. Multiple news sources have reported that the Department told the parties that they would need to divest CNN as a condition of completing the merger…The President’s views about the content of CNN’s press coverage have no place in antitrust law enforcement. Should the Antitrust Division determine that AT&T’s acquisition of CNN – as well as other Time Warner properties – raises antitrust concerns, Department enforcement action may be warranted. But political considerations based on the content of CNN’s news coverage should never impact the Department’s decision-making. Political interference in antitrust law enforcement is unacceptable. We hope that you share our views about the importance of maintaining the professionalism and independence of the antitrust enforcement agencies.”

— Andrew Ross Sorkin

Taking the punch away from the consolidation party.

Many, many deal makers believed that a Trump presidency would be good for mergers within the media and telecom industries. Companies felt the need to get bigger, thanks to ever-increasing competition — and much of the inspiration came from AT&T’s planned $85.4 billion takeover of Time Warner. That was before this week.

Think about how many deals are in the works, or that analysts say should be in the works. Sinclair is in the process of buying Tribune. Disney briefly held talks about buying most of 21st Century Fox. Sprint and T-Mobile are both single and potentially ready to mingle. And so on.

Is the Justice Department under President Trump more willing to block mergers than previously thought? It may depend on the kind of transactions we’re talking about. Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai wrote an NYT op-ed defending his plans to ease restrictions on owning newspapers and a television station in the same market. But in the case of AT&T, the Justice Department is arguing that owning a wireless service provider, HBO, the Turner Broadcasting’s cable channels and DirecTV is too much control for one company to have.