A growing group of lawmakers and advocacy groups are demanding that Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer bring the chamber’s self-preferencing legislation for a vote as concern swirls around his daughters’ work at two of the largest technology platforms.
In remarks published on Sunday, the top ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee joined the chorus of Democrats calling for action on the American Innovation and Choice Online Act.
“We need a date certain for a vote, and I call on Senator Schumer to name one – if not before August recess, then this fall,” Senator Chuck Grassley told the New York Post.
Grassley’s call for a vote follows an open letter to Schumer from the Congressional Progressive Caucus last week, which noted that six months had already elapsed since the American Innovation and Choice Online Act cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“These bills are ready for a vote and we urge you to schedule the vote on them in the next few weeks,” said the caucus of 100 representatives, which counts Pramila Jayapal, Ilhan Omar and David Cicilline as members.
There is no official deadline for voting on the bill, but AICOA’s proponents worry that lawmakers might grow uneasy about casting such a contentious vote with November’s midterm elections approaching.
The Senate is scheduled to take a month-long recess beginning 8 August, potentially leaving tech-focused antitrust legislation out of the grasp of the 117th Congress.
Introduced by Senator Amy Klobuchar and Grassley in October 2021, AICOA would prohibit Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple and TikTok from preferencing their own products and services in a manner deemed harmful to competition.
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the bill following a 16-to-six vote in January. The House Judiciary Committee favourably reported their version of AICOA to the full chamber in June 2021.
Axios reported back in May that Schumer wanted to hold a vote on AICOA in the “early summer”, but the Senator from New York has indicated that the chamber does not have enough guaranteed votes.
Schumer’s office told the Washington Post earlier this month that the senator “supports the legislation and is working with Senator [Amy] Klobuchar and others to get the necessary votes to pass it”.
However, Schumer has been facing a barrage of criticism all summer for what many are seeing as unnecessary delays to the tech-related antitrust bill. One of his daughters is a lobbyist for Amazon and another works as a product marketing manager for Meta Platforms.
On Friday, 16 progressive organisations called for the senator to recuse himself from floor decisions on AICOA and the Open App Markets Act, citing his daughters’ work.
Groups including the American Economic Liberties Project, the Institute for Local Self Reliance and Demand Progress suggested that Schumer is “covertly seeking to run out the clock” by not putting the bills to a full Senate vote, despite his claims that he supports bringing big tech to heel.
They cited reports that Schumer met with Microsoft chief executive Brad Smith during a recent trip to the state of Washington. Politico and The Washington Post reported that Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai have attempted to persuade Schumer during phone calls against bringing the bill for a vote.
The advocacy groups also noted that Schumer recused himself from congressional action on Comcast’s failed purchase of Time Warner Cable in 2014 because his brother was a key attorney in the deal. This is an ethical precedent for him to step back again, they argued.
“The mere appearance that the Senate Majority Leader is doing the bidding of tech monopolists despite wide public support for antitrust reform due to his familial connections stands to further erode the American people’s confidence in Congress,” the organisations said.
Grassley upped the ante on voting this week, complaining that the chamber had spent recent weeks on legislation that was “purely partisan” or nominees that are “inconsequential”.
“Senator Klobuchar and I have worked meticulously to prepare our legislation for a floor vote,” Grassley said. “All the while, armies of lobbyists for the tech giants continue to mislead about our bill.
Last month, comedian John Oliver took 27 minutes out of his HBO show Last Week Tonight to make the case for antitrust reforms that Congress is considering.
“Chuck Schumer is the person who needs to call these bills for a vote,” Oliver said. “While he certainly said he will do that, he also hasn’t done it yet.”
Fight for the Future made sure Schumer had a chance to watch that video. The advocacy group rented a video billboard truck blaring Oliver’s episode in front of the Senate majority leader’s New York and Washington, DC, houses.
