The merger between grocery store giants Kroger and Albertsons was halted by Judge Adrienne Nelson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon on

Oregon U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson, an appointee of President Joe Biden, ruled in favor of the Federal Trade Commission and against the large grocery chains. Nelson's decision, along with one from Washington state court Judge Marshall Ferguson,

Kroger, meanwhile, dismissed the claims as “baseless and without merit,” saying the company went to “extraordinary lengths” to advance the merger and characterizing the lawsuit as a deflection of Albertson’s own “multiple breaches,” according to CNN.