Grassley, Klobuchar See Potential Pact on More Antitrust Money

Increasing resources for antitrust enforcers is one potential area for Senate Judiciary Committee compromise, ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told us Wednesday. It’s something Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., has pushed for along with comprehensive antitrust legislation (see 2102040053). Klobuchar will lead the subcommittee’s first hearing this session Thursday (see 2103040033).

“I’m with her 100%” on efforts to get antitrust enforcers more resources, said Grassley: “There needs to be stronger antitrust laws." He noted Republicans probably can’t go as far as Klobuchar wants in shifting the burden for companies to prove deals aren’t anticompetitive. Communications Decency Act Section 230 is also “for sure” a potential area for Judiciary compromise, Grassley said.

House Antitrust Subcommittee Chair David Cicilline, D-R.I., looks forward to hearing from Microsoft Friday about its antitrust case in the 1990s, saying President Brad Smith should provide some “pretty useful information.” The hearing, the subcommittee's second this session (see 2103090066), will focus on “what’s happening to local news and online publishers,” Cicilline said Tuesday.

Cicilline introduced the Journalism Competition Preservation Act in 2019 (see 1904030064) with then-House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga. Wednesday, he introduced a slightly altered bill with subcommittee ranking member Ken Buck, R-Colo., whom Cicilline has considered a willing partner on antitrust issues. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., also signed on. The bill would let small news outlets negotiate with large online platforms like Facebook and Google.

“We must enable news organizations to negotiate on a level playing field with the big tech companies if we want to preserve a strong and independent press,” Klobuchar said in a statement. Buck called it in an important start to “remedying the results of Google, Facebook, and others' anticompetitive conduct toward local news outlets, conservative media, and other news organizations.” Microsoft looks "forward to testifying on the fundamental role that independent and local journalism plays in democracy," emailed a spokesperson.

Lawmakers told us they want stakeholder feedback.

Before Congress gives antitrust enforcers more resources, officials need to tell lawmakers what they need, said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. “When you start looking at the tech sector, there’s probably a rational basis for giving them more resources, [but] I don’t want to give them something they didn’t ask for.” The FTC hasn’t been very effective, so “I want to see some reform that will actually make them serious about their enforcement duties,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. “There’s a lot of room for bipartisanship on antitrust.”

“I have advocated for additional resources for 30 years,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “When I was state attorney general, I said" that DOJ's Antitrust Division "deserves more support and resources, ought to be more aggressive and do more cases," he said. "There’s a clear need for it.” Klobuchar’s legislation is a “good start,” he added.

Testimony

Witnesses we contacted previewed their testimony.

The News Media Alliance will highlight Friday the impact tech platforms have had on their businesses and why the bipartisan legislation is needed, said Senior Vice President Danielle Coffey on Wednesday. NMA CEO David Chavern will testify. Coffey noted the legislation was amended to allow news broadcasters to negotiate with the tech platforms.

NAB Television Board Chair Emily Barr will testify about the “dominant marketplace power of a handful of digital technology platforms and their negative impact on local journalism,” NAB said in a statement. “These tech companies -- whose size dwarfs that of local media outlets -- not only pose major threats to advertising revenue for broadcasters and local newspapers, but they are gatekeepers of online content, exerting power over what internet users access and how advertisers reach them.”

NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss will tell the House subcommittee Friday that local news is facing “an extinction-level” threat that jeopardizes American democracy, the organization said: "He will urge the committee to adopt legislation that will stop the unprecedented, dangerous decline."

Increasing agency resources is one area where there’s “definite consensus,” said Committee for Justice Public Policy Director Ashley Baker, who will testify Thursday. There’s bipartisan agreement that more funding can mean more cases and more talent, she added. She plans to tell the subcommittee how the consumer welfare standard has served U.S. antitrust law well and that altering it would undermine the foundation.

CTA cautioned Congress against taking antitrust action against tech companies, saying claims of tech monopolies are “misguided and unfounded.” Competition in the “tech sector is fierce, with record levels of R&D investment and a thriving U.S. startup scene,” said CEO Gary Shapiro.