TECH OF THE TOWN 

MASSIVE FINAL PUSH UNDERWAY FOR TECH ANTITRUST BILLS — Progressives have spent months and months urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to schedule votes on both the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, S. 2992, and the Open App Markets Act, S. 2710. But as frantic as those requests have been, they’ve rarely risen to the level of intense lobbying underway this week.

As the lame duck kicks off, activists are attempting to flood Schumer (and other senators still on the fence about either bill) with a deluge of letters, ads and briefings in support of the legislation. The bills would each attempt to rein in the market power of the largest tech companies. But as the clock ticks down to a new Congress, lawmakers who were formerly bullish on their prospects are warning the next few weeks may be the last chance congressional antitrust reformers will get for some time.

“This is our last opportunity for it to happen this Congress,” said Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), a key backer of both bills in the lower chamber. “And I think everyone recognizes if the Republicans take control of the House, it’s gonna be much more difficult to make any progress on these issues.”

— Advocacy avalanche: Progressive and liberal groups in favor of both antitrust bills are piling pressure onto Schumer and the rest of congressional leadership. In a letter being sent this morning and shared first with MT, 46 organizations — including Access Now, Consumer Reports, Fight for the Future and Public Knowledge — urge top lawmakers to pass both bills before the lame duck is over. “We have been patient through promises from congressional leaders of a vote that has yet to materialize,” the groups write, calling passage of the bills “an achievable, landmark accomplishment that is within your grasp this session.”

The letter builds on the pressure brought to bear by a new, D.C.-centered ad campaign headed by the progressive Tech Oversight Project and supported by smaller tech firms like Yelp and DuckDuckGo. The six-figure ad buy only pushes lawmakers to pass AICOA, which would ban top platforms from self-preferencing (and which is widely seen as the only antitrust bill with a real shot this session). A TOP spokesperson said the ads will run across Washington until the end of the year “or until antitrust reform is passed.”

And antitrust supporters aren’t letting up later this week. On Thursday Proton, a smaller tech company, plans to hold an antitrust briefing for Senate staffers that will include remarks from both advocates and other small tech firms. Speakers will include the head of startup accelerator Y Combinator and representatives from the progressive American Economic Liberties Project.

— Is all this going to work? It’s hard to say — but an intense pressure campaign over the last few months hasn’t moved Schumer so far. The Senate majority leader has had ample opportunity to hold a vote on either bill, and he’s failed to do so. That could be because he secretly doesn’t support the legislation as much as he claims, like some progressives have suggested. Or it could be because he believes there simply aren’t 60 votes to pass either bill, as Bloomberg reported he told donors in July. Spokespeople for Schumer did not respond to a request for comment.

— Senate supposedly key: Cicilline said Tuesday that the House is effectively waiting on the Senate to “go first” on the antitrust bills. That’s in part due to revisions made to the Senate bill that would be better to resolve before the House sends its own version to the upper chamber. But it’s also due to reluctance among House leadership to waste floor time on a tech antitrust bill that can’t pass the Senate.

“I think there’s always that concern — if we’re gonna pass it, let’s make sure it’s gonna pass out,” Cicilline said.

— And the House is hunky-dory? Some Democrats — particularly members of the New Democrat Coalition headed by Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) — have expressed reservations about the congressional antitrust push. And even if a relatively small number of Democrats defect, it’s not clear that enough Republicans will support the legislation to make up the difference.

But Cicilline insisted that if AICOA clears the Senate, it will clear the House. “We’ve had just a handful of Democrats, principally from the state of California who represent districts where these companies are, [oppose AICOA],” Cicilline said. “But overwhelmingly the Democratic caucus supports this bill — as well as a very significant amount of Republicans.”

— Tick tock: But none of that may matter if the Senate doesn’t get moving, and soon, on the antitrust legislation. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a key backer of AICOA, suggested the lame duck will go by faster than you think.“There’s such limited time in the remainder of this session,” he said Tuesday. “The odds are against any particular piece of legislation.”

Like Cicilline, Blumenthal suggested the bill’s best hope may be attaching it to must-pass legislation like the omnibus package or the year-end defense bill — a gambit that would dramatically complicate negotiations on those bills, and one certain to cause Schumer and the rest of leadership a severe headache even if it’s ultimately successful.

— Consolation prize? If the lame-duck blitz on antitrust fails, progressives can at least console themselves with the knowledge that the Biden administration is taking concrete steps to rein in the market power of the largest tech firms. In a letter being sent this morning to DOJ leadership and shared first with MT, 18 progressive groups led by AELP praise the one-year anniversary of Jonathan Kanter’s confirmation as head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.

“We are delighted to see the extent to which the Antitrust Division has been taking seriously its responsibility to the American people during Kanter’s first year,” the groups write. “From what we can see, the change seems to be a structural one that is likely to endure.”