Week of January 9, 2023
The 118th Congress has officially begun and the Georgia Bulldogs will defend their national title tonight against the Horned Frogs of TCU as the opening weeks of 2023 come hot out of the gate.
In the early hours of January 7, following 14 previous failed ballots, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was elected the 55th Speaker of the House of Representatives. The process was definitely messy and lasted longer than most peoples’ attempt at a “dry January.” But the process worked, and we have a Speaker. Franklin Square Partners Brian Worth and Wes McClelland, both former senior McCarthy staffers, were able to take a short break for the weekend; but, we’re told they should enjoy it while it lasts.
Republicans still have some organizational work to do in the House. Today, the Steering Committee will meet to resolve contested committee chair races, and this will result in all committees being able to announce their Member rosters as well as subcommittee chairmanships. This evening, the House will take up its rules package that will allow the chamber to begin legislative business for the 118th Congress.
The Senate is in recess until January 23.
What We’re Watching:
New House Select Committee on Social Media: House Republicans plan to organize a Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which will be tasked with investigating the links between social media platforms and Federal agencies such as the FBI, the CDC, and the White House, among other issues. The new committee has not been officially constituted, but it is speculated that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) will chair the select committee (along with his duties as House Judiciary Committee chairman). Jordan has been the leading voice for House Republican complaints about anti-conservative bias and censoring of conservative voices online. In December, he sent letters to the CEOs of social media platforms requesting information regarding each company’s work with the Biden Administration. The legislative debate regarding CDA 230 and content moderation has always included the issue of anti-conservative bias as far as Republicans were concerned, and this new select committee will provide fodder for the Judiciary and Energy & Commerce Committees as they work towards legislation.
FTC Takes Action on Non-compete Clauses for Workers: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a notice of proposed rulemaking last week that would prohibit companies from imposing non-compete clauses on employees - an antitrust effort long held by the agency to increase competition. According to the FTC’s press release on the matter, the rulemaking “is based on a preliminary finding that noncompetes constitute an unfair method of competition and therefore violate Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.” This rulemaking has already received backlash from industry stakeholders, notably the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The proposal will be open for public comment for 60 days once published in the Federal Register.
Biden To Take Action on Labor Standards: The Department of Labor is expected to publish final rules on several regulations pertaining to standards for workers in the coming days. The Biden Administration issued its most recent regulatory agenda last week, specifying several rules from the Department of Labor regarding independent contractors, overtime pay, Davis-Bacon wage concerns, and retirement plan fiduciaries. Additionally, the National Labor Review Board is expected to implement several regulatory changes to their policies that have previously been favored by businesses. Republicans at the House Education and the Workforce Committee will certainly have these rules on their oversight list when the Committee begins holding hearings.
What’s Happening This Week:
Tech Hearings
No relevant hearings this week.
Tech Events
The Center for Strategic and International Studies and GitHub - "Government Policies for Open Source Software" - Tuesday, January 10 at 10:00 AM ET
Washington Post Live - "The Path Forward: Technology and Security" - Tuesday, January 10 at 1:00 PM ET
The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business and School of Public Policy - "Financial Information Systems and Cybersecurity: A Public Policy Perspective" - Wednesday, January 11 at 9:00 AM ET
The Center for Strategic and International Studies - "Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology” - Wednesday, January 11 at 10:30 AM ET
The Heritage Foundation - "Crushed: Big Tech's War on Free Speech" - Wednesday, January 11 at 12:00 PM ET
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation - "PoliceTech: Maximizing Benefits and Reducing Risks" - Wednesday, January 11 at 1:00 PM ET
The Women's Foreign Policy Group - "When Women Lead: How Female Leadership is Crafting the New Success Paradigm Across Foreign Policy and National Security, and Business and Tech" - Thursday, January 12 at 11:00 AM ET
National Science Foundation - National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Task Force meeting - Friday, January 13 at 1:00 PM ET
What’s Interesting This Week:
A New Kind of Coin… On January 9, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto released the first version of the bitcoin software and launched the network of the decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrency. The announcement was posted on the Cryptography Mailing List, and Nakamoto noted that six days prior, he had generated the first block of 50 bitcoins, known as the Genesis Block. Today, bitcoin remains the most common cryptocurrency.
