DoJ rushes to approve Google’s ITA purchase before shutdown; Update: Approved!

(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) - With the budget impasse about to result in a government shutdown, the federal government has just hours to finish up its highest priorities in the discretionary-spending world. Would that be paying the troops? Staffing Social Security support centers? Prosecuting criminals in federal court? Not exactly, as the Washington Post discovered this morning. The Department of Justice will spend its remaining budget today trying to expedite approval of a deal involving one of Barack Obama’s most significant supporters and one of his informal presidential advisers:

With a government shutdown looming, the Justice Department is hurrying to approve a controversial deal by Google on Friday that would allow the firm to acquire a powerful travel search software firm, though with some strings attached, according to a source close to the negotiations.

Antitrust officials are moving quickly to resolve months of negotiations with the tech giant over concerns that the acquisition could hurt competition in the travel search business. A shutdown could throw the talks into disarray because many Justice employees would not be able to work.

Government officials are seeking an agreement with Google that would require ongoing antitrust monitoring of the company, a first for the tech firm as it fends off rising concerns about its size and dominance on the Web.