Telecom Interests Eye 7 New Republicans on House Commerce

Telecom policy observers are awaiting a final decision on House Commerce Committee Republicans’ leadership and membership roster after Democrats selected five members Thursday to join the committee’s ranks next Congress. Selected by the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee are: Angie Craig of Minnesota, Lizzie Fletcher of Texas, Kathleen Rice of New York, Kim Schrier of Washington and Lori Trahan of Massachusetts. Four House Commerce Democrats and six Republicans chose not to seek reelection this year, including ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore.

Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, wants to remain in that role next Congress, aides told us. He's likely to retain the slot, lobbyists said. Latta “has done a lot of work on the subcommittee that I know he wants to continue,” including improving broadband coverage data collection practices, an aide said. Incoming Commerce ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington will have the final say on who will be the lead Republican on each subcommittee, including who will succeed her as Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranker. Latta competed with McMorris Rodgers to follow Walden as House Commerce ranker (see 2011180028).

House Democrats and Republicans agreed to each add one seat to their committee rosters for the next Congress, aides said. Lobbyists had expected the GOP to have a one-seat net gain in committee membership ratios after the November election. That means there will be 32 Democrats and 25 Republicans on House Commerce in the next Congress. The six GOP retirements from House Commerce mean there will be seven new committee Republicans at the start of the next session.

Multiple House Republicans are known to be actively campaigning to join Commerce. They include: Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, Brian Babin of Texas, Michael Cloud of Texas, Dan Crenshaw of Texas, John Curtis of Utah, John Joyce of Pennsylvania, Debbie Lesko of Arizona and Greg Pence of Indiana, lobbyists said. Aides to Curtis and Lesko confirmed they're seeking spots on Commerce. The other lawmakers’ offices didn’t comment.

Most of the GOP contenders have slight past tech and telecom experience. Armstrong is a member of the Antitrust Subcommittee and actively participated in hearings on its Big Tech probe (see 2010010060). Crenshaw and Lesko are among the Republicans who criticized social media companies for claimed anti-conservative bias (see 1906260051). Cloud was among the lawmakers who wanted to let the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act's distant signal license provision sunset at the end of 2019 (see 1905030056).

Curtis filed the Federal Broadband Deployment in Unserved Areas Act (HR-7344) earlier this year to allow the Department of the Interior to view FCC broadband mapping data to show federal real property that can support communications facilities in unserved areas (see 2006250068). Pence has sought full funding for the Rural Utilities Service's distance learning program (see 1910300056). Joyce has also been involved in rural broadband issues as House Small Business Rural Development Subcommittee ranking member (see 1910210072). Babin as a member of the Science Committee has been active on commercial space and orbital debris issues (see 2004150054).

House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said the new committee Democrats “will provide invaluable contributions to the Committee from day one.” The committee “will push an aggressive agenda” in coming months, including bids to “rebuild and modernize our nation’s infrastructure … and protect people's privacy,” he said.

Some newly appointed Democrats have other tech and telecom policy experience. Craig sought an amendment to the FY 2020 appropriations measure to bar the FCC from using new funding to collect further broadband coverage data via Form 477 (see 1906250052). She more recently tried to amend the Moving Forward Act (HR-2) to annul the FCC 2019 declaratory rulemaking that partially preempted San Francisco's Police Code Article 52 ordinance, which requires sharing of in-use multi-tenant environment building wiring (see 1907110015).

Rice co-sponsored the Digital Security Commission Act (HR-4651) to establish an independent blue-ribbon panel to address encryption and privacy and participated in House Cybersecurity Subcommittee hearing on implementing the Cyberspace Solarium Commission recommendations (see 2007170058). She competed against fellow Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for a seat on the committee seen as informally reserved for a member of the New York congressional delegation. Trahan pushed during the FY 2020 appropriations process for the FCC to complete its investigation into wireless carriers' location tracking practices, including the sale of customer location tracking data allegedly accessed by bounty hunters (see 1906260081).