Legislation designed to rein in the world’s largest technology companies will once again stall in Congress despite having enough votes to pass each chamber, Representative Ken Buck has said.
The former ranking Republican on the House antitrust subcommittee told Keystone Strategy’s conference in Brussels on Thursday that party leadership once again appears set to stymie efforts to limit the conduct of Google, Meta, Apple, Amazon and TikTok.
Buck blamed Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi for not bringing legislation such as the American Innovation and Choice Online Act and the Open App Markets Act during the previous session of Congress.
Advanced by both the House and Senate judiciary committees, these bills would have blocked large platforms from giving their own products special treatment and restricted app stores from limiting the use of third-party payment systems.
“These companies spent tens of millions of dollars in the political system,” said Buck. “They didn’t move the rank and file members of the House or Senate, but they certainly moved leadership.”
Buck predicted more of the same now that the House is controlled by Republicans, calling out House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan by name.
They will do “absolutely nothing” with these bills because “a whole lot of money [is] being put into a whole lot of pockets”, he said.
“[Tech companies] don’t win ideologically, they don’t win with popular support,” Buck claimed. “They win because they’re making such gross amounts of money that they can buy the system.”
Not only has Jordan expressed a clear interest in disrupting Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan’s enforcement agenda, but the antitrust subcommittee’s new head, Representative Thomas Massie, previously doubted whether merger control should exist at all.
The lawmaker also pushed back against the idea that the judiciary should only interpret the law and Congress should not interfere with the free market.
“If you say the courts shouldn’t do anything and if you say the legislative branch shouldn’t do anything, what you’re saying is you don’t want anything to happen,” Buck said.
The House will also lose a longtime antitrust advocate later this year when Representative David Cicilline, the subcommittee’s previous leader, resigns. The Rhode Island Democrat led an extensive investigation into Google, Meta, Amazon and Apple and pushed for legislation to limit their power.
Buck commended Cicilline’s record on competition matters on Thursday, calling his former colleague an “absolute superstar” despite their differences on most other policy issues.
The representative also highlighted the most recent Congress’ successes on competition, citing bills to increase funding for the FTC and Department of Justice and allow state attorneys general to pick their litigation arenas – which Buck sponsored.
Going forward, Buck said the House will focus on regulating Google’s power in the digital advertising market similar to several ongoing lawsuits from private litigants, the DOJ and state enforcers. He added that AICOA may also get another chance, despite doubts from counsel to Senator Mike Lee.
Buck claimed that inaction on Google’s control over online searches and flow of information could even endanger democracy as a whole.
He also pointed to Texas attorney general Ken Paxton as a reason to be hopeful about the future of antitrust enforcement.
Speaking on the same panel, Paxton – who unsuccessfully tried to convince the Supreme Court to overturn voting results in four states won by President Joe Biden in the 2020 election – similarly expressed concerns about corporations dictating elections.
The attorney general claimed Google’s structure and control over advertising is a “threat to democracy” that can only be solved if enforcers and lawmakers can work together. He is currently leading a bipartisan coalition of states in seeking a structural breakup of the company’s digital advertising businesses.
The conference concluded yesterday.
