Week of July 25, 2022
August recess is in sight, and Congress is attempting to end its summer session with a flurry of legislative activity. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) almost has a win after more than a year of working to get a deal on his China competition bill (now dubbed “CHIPS+”), and the House is working to tie up loose ends with 27 suspension bills that include several cybersecurity and spectrum items. The Commerce Department is expected to release GDP Q2 growth numbers this week, the President continues to work via video conference due to COVID, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan has the communist government on the mainland expressing their displeasure. And, on a more bipartisan and positive note, the annual Congressional Baseball Game is this week, where Republicans and Democrats raise money for local DC charities and Members get to jack homeruns in a big league ballpark.
The House Appropriations Committee passed 6 spending bills last week and the Senate Appropriations Committee majority is expected to post their bills online this week, but that is likely the end of this parade, as the Senate is not able to even pass their bills out of committee and the remaining House bills have too many political challenges to proceed.
It is likely that there will be a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government through the end of the calendar year.
The Treasury’s Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) will meet on July 28 with their report on digital assets in response to the President's Executive Order on the agenda.
What We’re Watching:
CHIPS Plus a Whole Lot More: Last week, the Senate adopted the motion-to-proceed to an updated version of USICA, now called CHIPS. While funding for semiconductor manufacturing is the focus, with more than $50 billion in subsidies as well as the FABS Act tax credit included in this bill, the more than 1,000-page bill also includes authorizations for a host of federal programs on emerging tech and workforce development. The Senate is likely to vote today to end debate on the bill and vote on final passage by Tuesday or Wednesday. From there, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has committed to bring the legislation to the House floor before breaking for August recess, should it get through the Senate.
The Future of Privacy Legislation and Beyond: The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a markup last Wednesday on the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA), which passed out of committee with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 53-2. California Democrats made up the hold-outs on the legislation in opposition to the bill’s federal preemption over state privacy laws, which some argue have stronger consumer protections than the ADPPA. While this is a major step forward for the bill, the reservations from both Republican and Democratic Members expressed at committee markup makes it unclear if there is a path forward for passage on the House floor. Not to mention Senate Commerce Committee Chair Cantwell continues to show disinterest in the House legislation; instead scheduling a markup in her committee this Wednesday on two separate bills on children's privacy.
Possible Stablecoin Legislation: Rules to regulate stablecoins could be introduced in the House Financial Services Committee this week. Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (R-NC) have indicated they are working on legislation to create a legal framework for “payment stablecoins” to include rules mandating issuers maintain 100 percent reserves and bar lending stablecoins to customers. Additionally, the Federal Reserve would be responsible to license any non-bank stablecoin issuers and would have to monitor the financial health of those firms.
What’s Happening This Week:
Tech Hearings
Senate Banking Committee hearing on discrimination in financial services - Tuesday, July 26 at 10:00 AM ET
Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on ensuring U.S. global leadership - Wednesday, July 27 at 9:30 AM ET
Senate Commerce Committee markup on children’s privacy legislation - Wednesday, July 27 at 10:00 AM ET
House Financial Services markup - Wednesday, July 27 at 10:00 AM ET
House Homeland Security Committee hearing on CBP and facial recognition - Wednesday, July 27 at 2:00 PM ET
House Science, Space, and Technology hearing on cybersecurity in commercial space systems - Thursday, July 28 at 10:00 AM ET
Tech Events
NSF - National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Task Force meeting - Monday, July 25 at 11:00 AM ET
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) - "Partnerships for Prosperity: U.S. Leadership in the Global Economy" - Monday, July 25 at 9:00 AM ET
The Brookings Institution - "The future of crypto regulation" - Monday, July 25 at 2:00 PM ET
Small Business Administration (SBA) - “Accepting Cryptocurrency as a Payment Option” - Monday, July 25 at 6:00 PM ET
The Atlantic Council - "Cybersecure the future: Ransomware" - Tuesday, July 26 at 12:30 PM ET
The Bipartisan Policy Center - "What Big Tech's Online Practices Mean for Competition Policy" - Tuesday, July 26 at 2:00 PM ET
Woodrow Wilson Center - "Open Data - What’s Next in Policy and Practice?" - Tuesday, July 26 at 2:00 PM ET
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) - "The AI-Surveillance Symbiosis in China: A Big Data China Event" - Wednesday, July 27 at 12:00 PM ET
What’s Interesting This Week:
Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot! Last week, London saw its hottest day on record with temperatures reaching 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.54 degrees Fahrenheit)!
