House Considers FY 2016 Commerce Budget Amid White House Veto Threat

The House began consideration of the proposed FY 2016 budget for the Department of Commerce and several other federal departments and agencies (HR-2578) Tuesday amid a White House veto threat, but hadn't voted at our deadline. The Republican-controlled House was widely anticipated to pass the proposed budget with limited Democratic crossover support. The House Appropriations Committee cleared the proposed $51.4 billion budget for full House consideration before the Memorial Day recess (see 1505200057). The proposed budget would allocate $8.2 billion to Commerce, including $855 million to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and $35.2 million for NTIA, but includes a provision that would bar NTIA from using its funding “to relinquish” its responsibility for Domain Name System functions via the planned spinoff of its oversight over the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions.

The White House Office of Management and Budget said senior White House advisers will recommend that President Barack Obama veto the proposed Commerce budget and “any other legislation that implements the current Republican budget framework, which blocks the investments needed for our economy to compete in the future.” The White House said its veto threat stems in part from the provision defunding NTIA implementation of the IANA transition, saying the spinoff is “a commitment the U.S. Government made more than a decade ago. The successful transition of these functions would facilitate a free and open internet managed through a multi-stakeholder governance structure.” The White House also urged the House to increase its proposed funding for NIST.

House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., opposed the IANA transition provision, telling the House in a statement Tuesday that “this limitation of funds is not only unnecessary, it sends the wrong message to the international community. Our diplomats point to the IANA transition announcement as a key factor helping us win allies and support for an Internet free of government control.” Eshoo highlighted her continued work with House Communications on compromise legislation on oversight of the IANA transition, which she said “will address concerns about transparency and accountability, while reaffirming our commitment to the transition.” House Communications considered the Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters Act (HR-805), which would prohibit NTIA from approving ICANN’s IANA transition plan until the GAO completes a study of the plan, during a May 13 hearing (see 1505130061).

Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., railed against the White House’s commitment to continuing with the IANA transition process, saying Tuesday that the transition would allow responsibility for the IANA functions to transfer “to a foreign body that doesn’t share” the U.S. vision of online free speech rights. “The Internet was made in America; let’s keep the core functions of the Internet in America,” he said. Duffy’s Global Internet Freedom Act (HR-355) would completely prohibit NTIA from proceeding with the IANA transition (see 1501150030). The recently reintroduced Defending Internet Freedom Act (HR-2251) would require ICANN to adopt specific accountability measures before NTIA can proceed with the IANA transition. HR-2251’s text referenced measures currently under consideration by its IANA Transition Stewardship Transition Coordination Group, Cross Community Working Group to Develop an IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal on Naming Related Functions (CWG-Stewardship) and Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability).

House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, was among a number of House Republicans who criticized the White House’s veto threat and urged Obama to “look at the merits” of the proposed Commerce budget, which he said prioritizes improving public safety and supporting the U.S. economy. House Appropriations Commerce Subcommittee Chairman John Culberson, R-Texas, emphasized that one of the proposed budget’s priorities was improving funding for cybersecurity programs at the FBI and other federal agencies. House Appropriations Commerce ranking member Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., said House Republicans could easily pass the proposed budget but would still need to “weigh in the [Obama] administration’s viewpoint.”