Senators Press Witnesses on Amazon Contractors, PBMs, Funding and One‑Agency Proposal

In a wide-ranging question period, senators pressed witnesses on specific market practices and agency capacity.

Senator Hawley asked whether Amazon's Delivery Service Partner program — which he described as employing "about 300,000 people" — is properly treated as an independent‑contractor model when Amazon controls routes, vendors and performance monitoring. Professor Newman responded, "That does not sound like a traditional relationship," and both Newman and Cooley warned the structure can confer competitive advantages on Amazon relative to employers that directly hire drivers.

On health care, senators questioned whether insurers owning PBMs and pharmacies undermines competition. Professor Alford said vertical integration in health care is a major concern: "We need more such investigations about their misconduct," he said, calling for scrutiny of PBM practices and their effect on consumer prices and access to care.

Senators also returned to agency resourcing. Newman praised the Merger Filing Fees Modernization Act as a "shot in the arm" for underfunded agencies and warned that, without sufficient staffing, agencies go into "triage" and may have to shift resources away from complex litigation. Cooley urged funding for DOJ criminal antitrust teams and recommended state‑level HSR notice standardization to speed merger review coordination with the states.

Those exchanges underscored the hearing's practical focus: committee members sought specific policy levers — funding, venue protections, clarifying statutes and enforcement priorities — rather than abstract critique. The committee did not vote on legislation; it kept the record open for additional submissions until Dec. 24, 2024.