Week of September 5, 2022
Kids everywhere may be lamenting the end of their summer, but the wisdom of our many years says take a glass-half-full outlook this Fall. Football is back, the Artemis mission is going to the moon, and the election stretch run has gone from predictable midterm to anything can happen.
President Biden and congressional Democrats have rediscovered some of their mojo over the last six weeks, as they’ve scored legislative victories with the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Democrats also picked up a surprise win in a special election in New York, and have polling numbers suggesting that a combination of former President Trump’s return to the campaign trail and the political repercussions of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision may be blunting the expected “red wave” that had many DC Republicans measuring the drapes in the coveted offices in the US Capitol.
The Senate returns this week, while the House will have a committee work week and be back in DC next Monday. With few legislative days between now and election day, Congress’ “must do” items include the annual federal appropriations process and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – of which, neither the Senate nor the House has passed any appropriations bill for FY2023.
Senate Appropriations Chair Leahy (D-VT) and Ranking Member Shelby (R-AL) are both set to retire at the end of the year, so they are working to come up with a deal that can fully fund the government for the next fiscal year.
With little time and budgetary gridlock, it is likely Congress will pass a Continuing Resolution that funds the government into December, while appropriators negotiate a final funding deal for the remainder of the fiscal year.
What We’re Watching:
Crypto Remains the Hot Topic: The House and Senate will both hold hearings this month to address various legislative proposals related to digital assets.
The Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022, introduced by Chairwoman Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member John Boozman (R-AR). The legislation has garnered support from industry stakeholders due to its focus on building a framework for crypto exchanges to be governed under the CFTC rather than the SEC.
House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Ranking Member McHenry (R-NC) have been continuing to work on legislation to create a governing framework for stablecoins. Draft text has been closely held by staff, but it is likely we could see the legislation this month. The Committee released its September hearing schedule last week, and included a caveat that a markup on the stablecoin legislation could be added.
Privacy Reform Still on Standby: Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) put a damper on privacy reform efforts last week when she released a statement praising California’s action on privacy reforms. She expressed reservations about the federal preemption elements of the American Data Privacy Protection Act (ADPPA), which had received broad bipartisan support in House Energy & Commerce. It is worth noting in Pelosi’s statement that she highlights the ADPPA’s private right of action as a Democratic victory, which Republicans had opposed in the past but supported as part of the committee’s product. This does not bode well for the ADPPA’s prospects for receiving a vote in the full House, and also makes it tougher to pressure Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) to come to the table and negotiate on this legislation.
Your Antitrust Move, Schumer: Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY) continues to work with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) to gather the votes needed to pass antitrust legislation, the American Innovation Choice Online Act. As of now the commitments are not there, but that could change as the election approaches or even after the election in an anticipated lame duck session. The Senate Antitrust Subcommittee plans to hold a hearing later this month with FTC Chair Lina Khan and DOJ Antitrust Division’s Jonathan Kanter. There’s no doubt that Klobuchar’s legislation, and other outstanding antitrust bills, will be a major topic of discussion among the witnesses.
What’s Happening This Week:
Tech Hearings
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on oversight of the U.S. Copyright Office - Wednesday, September 7 at 2:30 PM ET
Tech Events
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) - "The Future of Quantum – Public/Private Collaboration for Innovation and Adoption" - Tuesday, September 6 at 3:00 PM ET
The Brookings Institution - "Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr: Making the financial system safer and fairer" - Wednesday, September 7 at 2:00 PM ET
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) - "Stopping the Spread of Online Mis- and Disinformation" - Wednesday, September 7 at 3:00 PM ET
Department of Energy - President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology - Discussion and Consideration for Approval of a Report on Revitalizing the U.S. Semiconductor Ecosystem - Wednesday, September 7 at 11:00 AM ET
The Center for Strategic and International Studies - "Report-Launch: Software-Defined Warfare: Defining the DOD's Transition to the Digital Age" - Wednesday, September 7 at 2:00 PM ET
Intelligence and National Security Alliance - Discussion with the NSA’s Gil Herrera, on the NSA’s current research priorities and challenges, the outlook for high performance computing, AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning), quantum encryption, and partnerships with industry and academia - Thursday, September 8 at 9:00 AM ET
FTC Public Forum on Privacy and Consumer Surveillance Proposed Rulemaking - Thursday, September 8 at 2:00 PM ET
What’s Interesting This Week:
The Workingman’s Holiday… On September 5, 1882, more than 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first Labor Day parade in U.S. history. It wasn’t until 12 years later that President Grover Cleveland signed the holiday into law to become what we now celebrate as a day of rest with friends and family, as well as the unofficial end of summer!
