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Biden’s tech and telecom enforcers to face a hostile House GOP
President Biden‘s tech and telecom enforcers are poised to come under fire from House Republicans on Tuesday as the leaders of the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission go to Capitol Hill to defend their requests for expanded budgets.
Two key House subcommittees will get their first crack at questioning agency leaders since they launched several high-profile Democratic-led initiatives, including restoring “net neutrality,” proposing new children’s privacy protections and probing artificial intelligence partnerships.
Here’s a primer on what to watch for:
Both agencies are facing resistance from House Republicans to their proposals for increased budgets, but the FTC much more so.
The agency requested $535 million for next year, which would increase its budget by $105 million from last year. But House Republican leaders have balked at the proposal, and last month appropriators in another committee advanced a bill that would cut appropriations by $37 million. The bill also included a raft of provisions aimed at limiting the agency’s regulatory powers.
FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan in her prepared testimony said the cuts would be “devastating” to the agency and “necessitate both furloughs and likely a reduction in force.”
The FCC is in a less precarious position. The agency requested a budget of $448 million for next year, up by $58 million from last year. While House Republicans have not been willing to fully grant that wish, appropriators gave preliminary approval to a $26 million increase last month.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the full request would “ensure that the Commission can meet its statutory mandates and uphold the core values of our laws … all while keeping pace with ever-changing and advancing technologies.”
The FCC hearing will mark the first time the agency has tested before the House Energy and Commerce Committee since reinstating the Obama-era “net neutrality” rules in April, a major partisan flash point. The session could give Republicans a chance to press the FCC on how far it plans to take its expanded oversight under the new order.
Rosenworcel in her testimony said the step ensured “that the Nation’s expert in communications has basic oversight over the most essential communications network of our time.”
Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), whose subcommittee is hosting the session, will take aim at the decision. In prepared remarks, he criticized the move for “allowing the agency to impose burdensome regulations that will make it harder for providers to deploy broadband.”
A memo prepared by the House committee’s Republican majority suggests that the agency’s anti-discrimination rules are also poised to be a major focal point at the session.
Congressional negotiations over federal privacy legislation are again in disarray. But Tuesday’s hearing with the FTC will give House Republicans a chance to grill the agency over its own attempts to craft stronger data privacy protections through ongoing rulemaking.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), who chairs the full Energy and Commerce Committee, has long opposed efforts by the agency to tackle the issue through sweeping new rules, and she has urged Congress to fill any gaps through legislation instead.
McMorris Rodgers’ privacy bill, which was recently yanked at the last minute from a markup, notably would have forced the FTC to halt its rulemaking process. The agency has also proposed a major update to its enforcement of federal children’s privacy laws.
“I welcome broad federal legislation to establish baseline consumer protections for all Americans and build on the FTC’s own numerous enforcement actions,” Khan said in her testimony.
FTC’s new GOP contingent
The FTC hearing will mark the first time the agency’s two new Republican commissioners, Melissa Holyoak and Andrew Fergusontestify in Congress since joining the agency this year.
Both of the FTC’s prior two GOP commissioners sparred with Khan over her policy priorities and management of the agency, with one publicly rebuking the chair in an op-ed as she resigned.
House Republicans have echoed many of their concerns since, and Tuesday’s session could offer a window into whether the new commissioners share those sentiments, and more broadly to what extent they agree with Khan’s direction for the agency.
US creates high-tech global supply chains to blunt risks tied to China (New York Times)
Apple removes VPN apps at request of Russian authorities, say app makers (TechCrunch)
Big Telecom guns for a major Biden policy (Politico)
Senate panel to hold privacy-focused AI hearing (The Hill)
Microsoft orders China staff to use iPhones for work and drop Android (Bloomberg)
Altman, Huffington launching AI health coach (The Hill)
Data workers detail exploitation by tech industry in DAIR report (TechCrunch)
Cyclists can’t decide whether to fear or love self-driving cars (Trisha Thadani and Gerrit De Vynck)
‘We don’t want to leave people behind’: AI is helping disabled people in surprising new ways (CNN)
- Zaman Qureshipreviously of the “Real Facebook Oversight Board” advocacy group, is joining Accountable Tech as a campaigns associate. He will remain as co-chair of the youth-led advocacy group Design It For Us. Peter Chandlerformerly senior vice president of federal policy and government relations at TechNet, is joining the Internet Works tech trade group as its first-ever executive director.
- The House Energy and Commerce Committee holds subcommittee hearings with commissioners from the FCC and FTC at 10 and 10:30 am, respectively.
- The Federalist Society hosts a fireside chat with the FTC’s Holyoak on Wednesday at noon.
- The Senate Commerce Committee holds a hearing, “The Need to Protect Americans’ Privacy and the AI Accelerant,” Thursday at 10 am
- The Congressional Internet Caucus Academy hosts an event, “Tech Platforms and the 1st Amendment: Impact of Supreme Court Rulings,” on Friday at noon.
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