today Kroger and Albertson are fighting the ftc's attempt to block the largest Supermarket merger in US history a federal judge in Portland is hearing from both sides in the trial that started today and is scheduled to last for 3 weeks the Federal Trade Commission is requesting a preliminary injunction to delay the deal Federal Regulators argue the nearly $25 billion merger is anti-competitive and would lead to higher grocery prices for consumers Kroger says it's not the case and has pledged to lower prices after the merger the retailers say joining forces is necessary to better compete with grocery Rivals like Walmart Amazon and Costco the hearing is expected to last until midt