WEEK OF MARCH 24, 2025 

KOSA Clash Ahead on Capitol Hill

State of Play: 

  • The House and Senate return to DC this week following last week’s recess. 

  • The Senate is expected to vote on nominations for Michael Kratsios to serve as Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, as well as Mark Meador to serve on the Federal Trade Commission. 

Driving the News: 

  • President Trump last week terminated the remaining two Democratic FCC Commissioners Alvero Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter. Bedoya announced the termination last week via X, and has vowed to bring legal action - time to look up Humphrey’s Executor. 

  • The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a nominations hearing for Arielle Roth to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which has done significant work on AI and kids online safety regulations in telecom.

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Three Things to Watch in Tech:

1. House Energy and Commerce Looks at Online Harms: The House Energy and Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee will tackle online harms this week, re-starting the debate on the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). 

  • KOSA, which stalled last year, is one of several bills the Subcommittee will discuss during its hearing, along with other proposed legislation such as the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which passed unanimously in the Senate last month, and COPPA 2.0. 

  • Despite bipartisan calls for legislation, there are still strong disagreements around duty of care provisions in KOSA.

  • The question remains if the Committee will tackle kids online safety or the broader comprehensive privacy debate. The Committee’s Privacy Working Group currently has its request for comment open through April 7, at which time they are expected to really begin work on privacy recommendations. 

2. Administration Nears TikTok Deal: Vice President JD Vance is reportedly nearing a deal to force TikTok to divest from its Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance, ahead of the April 5 deadline. 

  • Oracle currently has the leading bid to assume control of the app, however, Perplexity AI is also throwing its hat in the ring for consideration, suggesting that China will still have influence over the app under other ownership proposals. 

  • The resurgence of TikTok’s divestment continues the trend of congressional scrutiny of Chinese-owned tech in the US, including the AGI model DeepSeek. A bill was introduced in the House to ban DeepSeek from all US government devices. 

  • Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) introduced a bill last week to prohibit US investment in Chinese emerging tech companies, particularly around AI. China continues to remain top-of-mind on Congress’ tech agenda. 

3. Senators to Launch Section 230 Threats: Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) are planning to introduce their bill this week to sunset Section 230 liability protections by January 1, 2027. 

  • Graham has previously introduced legislation to sunset Section 230 protections before, and House Energy and Commerce leadership introduced legislation last congress to rid the liability shield. 

  • The Senators are arguing that repealing Section 230 is vital to enhancing children’s online protections, and “finally make the tech industry legally accountable for the harms they cause,” according to a statement from Graham. 

  • It is unclear how the effort will be received in the House, where there has been general interest in content moderation issues, but nothing specific as of now. A full repeal of Section 230 would cause significant legal challenges and issues to how internet companies operate their content moderation practices. 

What's Happening This WeekTech Hearings

  • The House Agriculture Committee to hold a hearing entitled “The CFTC at 50: Examining the Past and Future of Commodity Markets” - Tuesday, March 25 at 10:00 AM EST

  • The House Financial Services Committee to hold a hearing entitled “Beyond Silicon Valley: Expanding Access to Capital Across America” - Tuesday, March 25 at 10:00 AM EST

  • The House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee to hold a hearing entitled “Metals, Minerals, and Mining: How the CCP Fuels Conflict and Exploitation in Africa” - Tuesday, March 25 at 10:00 AM EST

  • The Senate Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee to hold a hearing to examine the censorship industrial complex - Tuesday, March 25 at 2:00 PM EST

  • The House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee to hold a hearing on American Trade Negotiation Priorities - Tuesday, March 25 at 2:00 PM EST

  • The Senate Armed Services Cybersecurity Subcommittee to hold a hearing to examine harnessing artificial intelligence cyber capabilities - Tuesday, March 25 at 3:30 PM EST

  • The House Energy and Commerce Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee to hold a hearing entitled  "The World Wild Web: Examining Harms Online" - Wednesday, March 26 at 10:00 AM EST

  • The House Financial Services Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee to hold a hearing entitled “A New Era for the CFPB: Balancing Power and Reprioritizing Consumer Protections” - Wednesday, March 26 at 10:00 AM EST

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