The department, during the Biden administration, initially said it had concerns about the merger of two of the largest credit card companies in the U.S.

Capital One cleared a significant obstacle to its proposed acquisition of Discover Financial Services after the Justice Department told regulators that it didn’t see sufficient competition concerns to block the deal, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

The deal, a $35 billion merger of some of the nation’s largest credit card companies announced in February 2024, was initially met by concerns that it could harm consumers. During the Biden administration, the Justice Department told regulators that it was concerned, in part, about the deal’s impact on potential credit card users who had no credit.

But the department’s investigation into the deal was still active when President Trump took office. This week, the department sent a letter to the Federal Reserve and the Office of the

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