Just before Congress slipped out of D.C. for a long fall break, a confusing debate broke out on the House floor between Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Jim Jordan over a relatively wonky antitrust bill.

Though both lawmakers opposed the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act, they had contradictory ideas of what the bill would do in terms of content moderation. The legislation is meant to increase the merger filing fee for large corporations, lower the fee for small businesses, and give state attorneys general more control over which courts hear their antitrust lawsuit.

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Sarah Miller, director and founder of the anti-monopoly American EconomicLiberties Project, said the contradiction was not surprising given the lobbying effortby big tech.

“You see this incongruity because, from the perspective of the opponents of these big-tech bills, lobbyists, et cetera, those are the arguments that are most likely to persuade persuadable politicians on both sides,” Miller said Friday.

“It just so happens that they’re in direct contradiction with each other, which was on display in an amusing and very obvious way during the debate,” she added.

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