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It’s been months since Sen. Chuck Schumer was expected to vote on antitrust legislation designed to rein in Big Tech — and his top Republican backer is dragging his feet from New York and bashing the gentleman.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told the Post, “It’s long overdue for the Majority Leader to introduce a bipartisan anti-trust bill that would challenge Big Tech’s anti-competitive behavior.” “We need a date for a vote, and I call on Senator Schumer to name one — this fall, if not before the August recess.”
The renewed heat comes as the Senate prepares for the final two legislative weeks before the August recess, when many members will be away on midterm campaigns.
“The Senate has spent weeks on completely non-partisan legislation or unnecessary nominations,” Grassley said.
Grassley wants Schumer to hold votes for a bill he’s pushing alongside Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) that would curb the power of tech giants like Amazon and Meta to curb market competition. Axios reported in May that Schumer planned to vote on the bill “early summer,” but that time has come and gone.
While Schumer has put in the time, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Google have spent more than $35 million on lobbying efforts so far this year alone, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The companies flooded the Beltway airwaves with ads opposing antitrust bills and bought ad space in influential newspapers like the Politico Playbook.
“Sen. Klobuchar and I worked diligently to prepare our legislation for a floor vote,” Grassley said. In the meantime, an army of lobbyists for the tech giants continues to mislead us about our bills.
The Internet Innovation and Choice Act — or the so-called “discrimination fee” — stops platforms from “self-selecting” their content. For example, Amazon can no longer promote its own goods on its e-commerce platform over third-party sellers.
When Schumer called a vote on the bill funding chipmakers and pushing to legalize marijuana, he vetoed the antitrust bill. He said he wasn’t ready to vote until sponsors confirmed they had 60 votes to pass.
Klobuchar and Grassley have repeatedly vowed to have the necessary votes for the bill — but when The Washington Post asked all 100 senators earlier this month how they would vote for office, most did not answer yes or no.
That leaves Grassley and Klobuchar with a “chicken and egg” problem, according to a senior GOP Senate aide.
According to her aide, who wished to remain anonymous, currently 60 senators will not come out publicly to support the law, especially if they know that the law is not a priority for the leadership of either party. But if Schumer brings it up for a vote, more senators will bow to the pressure and vote, the aide predicted.
“Klobuchar needs a commitment to bring him to Schumer, but nobody wants to sign up until he’s signed up,” the aide said. Regardless of how they ultimately vote, many members seem happy to be sitting on the fence.
Insiders say several Democrats, including California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, are likely to vote against the legislation. That means Gresley would need to gather at least a dozen GOP votes to push the bill.
Others insist that “neither the Senate nor the House have the votes to pass the bill.”
Business lobby groups, including the Chamber of Commerce and Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, have made Grassley’s job harder for months as Republicans oppose the bill and other proposals. Both groups have taken money from Big Tech companies, which will affect the bill.
In July, Americans for Tax Reform urged GOP lawmakers to sign a draft letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
The previously unreported letter said the bill would increase the size and scope of government, exacerbate conservative censorship and increase inflation on American families, and force tech companies into a “‘mom-may-no'” relationship with the federal government. ”
On the left side of the Democratic Party, more than a dozen members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus sent a letter to Schumer on Friday, saying two antitrust bills, including the Grassley-Klobuchar bill, are “ready for a vote and we’re asking you to schedule it.” He will vote on them in the next few weeks.”
And a separate coalition of progressive nonprofits, including Fight for the Future and the American Economic Freedom Project, sent another letter to the majority leader on Friday, saying he should recuse himself from decisions surrounding the vote because his two daughters support Meta and Amazon. News of the daughters’ careers was first reported by the Post.
“Senator Schumer supports this bill and is working with Senator Klobuchar to get the votes,” Schumer spokesman Angelo Rofaro told the Post.
But even if the bills pass the Senate, their companion bills must also pass the House — which some insiders say could pose an even bigger hurdle.
While Schumer has said he supports both of the Klobuchar-Grasley bills, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has not, instead saying she supports technology regulation in general.
Pelosi is under intense scrutiny for profiting from these tech companies, as her husband, Paul, has made millions in shares by actively trading companies such as Google.
A spokesman for Pelosi did not respond to a request for comment.
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