A letter to U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi and signed by 18 members of Congress asked for more information about the Justice Department’s review of the merger, which it said was passed “under highly suspicious circumstances.”
Many industry insiders raised eyebrows at how quickly the Compass-Anywhere merger was approved. Lawmakers are now asking the Justice Department to take a new look at the deal, according to a letter sent to the Justice Department from Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) office.
The letter, addressed to U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi and signed by 18 members of Congress, asks for more information about the Justice Department’s review of the merger, which it says was passed “under highly suspicious circumstances.”
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The letter cited a Wall Street Journal report in which Antitrust Chief Gale Slater said she wanted to launch an expanded review of the deal to determine whether it was anticompetitive. But when Compass’ lawyers appealed to Slater’s office, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche overruled Slater’s decision, which later approved the deal, the newspaper reported.
Slater resigned from the Justice Department last week, according to various reports, but the lawmakers’ letter said she had been “expelled.”
“This decision raises questions about the corruption you monitor and its impact on home prices for American families,” the letter says. “Allowing this merger will make it easier for these companies to increase their control over the real estate market, restricting consumer access and choice, and ultimately exacerbating the housing crisis that has put homeownership out of reach for millions of Americans.”
Compass did not immediately respond to Inman’s request for comment on the letter. News of the letter was first reported by Housing Wire.
The letter added that consolidation within the industry is hampering consumers’ ability to negotiate agent fees, and access to greater inventory options is also being curtailed by the increased use of private listing networks “widely adopted by Compass,” both factors that could drive up the cost of housing for Americans.
The letter explains that mergers are typically subject to a 30-day waiting period before the Justice Department’s antitrust division, which may be extended to allow for further evaluation. But in this case, Mr. Blanche approved the deal without review after Mr. Trump-aligned Compass attorney Mike Davis filed a complaint against the company with Mr. Blanche’s office, the Journal reported.
“The fact pattern reported in the Compass Anywhere deal is deeply disturbing and represents yet another example of a closely connected industry and lobbyist gaining inside access to senior Justice Department officials in the Trump administration and using this access to distort the antitrust process and obtain approval for anticompetitive mergers that reduce competition and harm the public,” the lawmakers wrote.
Lawmakers also noted that the Compass-Anywhere deal is not the first to raise concerns with the Justice Department, citing the Hewlett-Packard-Juniper merger that was completed in July 2025.
The letter concluded with 17 questions posed to Bondi to “help us understand how the Trump Justice Department rubber-stamped the merger of two of the nation’s largest securities companies,” and asked him to respond in writing by March 5, 2026.
Sen. Warren and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also sent a letter to the Justice Department and FTC in December calling for a “thorough investigation” into the Compass-Anywhere deal, as antitrust and price-fixing concerns “are at the center of growing litigation.”
See the full letter below.
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