WEEK OF NOVMEBER 12, 2024

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State of Play: 

  • After months of hard campaigning, Congress returns to Washington for its lame-duck session with a long to-do list that will surely be impacted by the change in Republican leadership in the Senate and the White House. 

Driving the News: 

  • Leadership elections kick off this week in the House and Senate, teeing up an interesting set of events that could have drastic impacts on the agendas for the 119th Congress.

  • Much focus is being put on whether President-elect Trump will put his finger on the scale in these leadership elections and also what powers a Senate Majority Leader or Speaker of the House will be allowed to wield.

  • With the short window to pass several must-pass pieces of legislation in a lame duck, Leaders must now deal with the post-election dynamic and figure out how best to resolve these issues and set themselves up going into the new Congress. 

Election Update:

  • Former President Trump won the presidential election and will return to Washington in January to serve his second term. 

  • Republicans have regained control of the Senate and are expected to maintain control of the House, resulting in a trifecta of control.  

Three Things to Watch in Tech:

1. Congress’ Lame Duck To-Do List: With just a few weeks left of the 118th Congress, Members have a long to-do list to achieve. We expect to see a push from the Democratic Senate and White House to push their tech priorities through on must-pass vehicles in the time remaining before the transfer of power. 

  • Some priorities, particularly around children’s online privacy and comprehensive Crypto and AI frameworks, could be pushed off early into the next congress with Republican members wanting to address certain aspects of these issues differently. 

  • In the next few weeks, congress must pass the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which could include a limited number of China competition-related issues and several other non-germane items such as certain bipartisan, bicameral AI bills. 

  • Congress is also staring at must-pass spending measures, but whether House Speaker Johnson will work to strike a deal on 2025 appropriations bills or extend current funding into the next congress is the question. Johnson is facing pressure from Republican members to push spending decisions into next year when Republicans have control of both Chambers, but Senate Democrats will be keen on passing FY25 spending measures before December 20 while they still have a say. 

2. President Trump’s First Moves:

President Trump has hit the ground running on starting the nomination process for key positions within his cabinet. 

  • Over the weekend, Trump announced his intention to nominate Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) to serve as Secretary of State, as well as Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) as ambassador to the U.N. and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) to be national security adviser. Linda McMahon has been reported to have been tapped for Secretary of Commerce

  • Unlike his first Administration, Trump is better positioned to get out in front of key appointments with a prepared transition team in place. 

  • To avoid any potential roadblocks ahead with the Senate confirmation process, Trump is calling for candidates for Senate Majority Leader to allow for recess appointments to his Administration. 

3. Elon Puts Content Moderation At Top of Trump’s Tech Agenda:

Content moderation could be at the forefront of President Trump’s tech agenda following a post from Elon Musk over the weekend. Musk resurfaced a video posted in December 2022 of Trump outlining his

free speech policy initiative

and his intent to alter Section 230. Many of the initiatives outlined in his video are likely to become reality, particularly given Musk’s counsel to the president. Here are the takeaways: 

  • Section 230 Reform: Seeks revisions to Section 230 to limit platform immunity, requiring online platforms to adhere to standards of neutrality and fairness and to limit content takedowns to unlawful material only.

  • Executive Order on Censorship: Plans to sign an Executive Order prohibiting federal agencies from collaborating with any entity to censor lawful speech. This includes banning federal funds from being used to label speech as "misinformation" and identifying and firing bureaucrats involved in censorship.

  • DOJ Investigations: Directs the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute entities involved in online censorship, covering potential violations of civil rights, election, finance, antitrust, and other laws. Urges Republicans to preserve evidence of censorship.

  • Defunding Censorship Programs: Proposes defunding nonprofits and academic programs that support censorship initiatives and punishing universities involved in election interference or content censorship.

  • Cooling-Off Period for Federal Employees: Introduces a 7-year restriction on former intelligence and federal officials working for companies with large U.S. user data.

  • Digital Bill of Rights: Calls for a digital Bill of Rights requiring due process for content removal, user rights to explanations for account restrictions, and the ability to opt-out of content curation.

What's Happening This Week?Tech Hearings:

  • House Oversight Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government and Innovation and the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs joint hearing titled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth” - Wednesday, November 13 at 11:30 AM ET

  • Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Oversight of the U.S. Copyright Office - Wednesday, November 13 at 2:30 PM ET

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