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August 2017

Antitrust Nominee Makan Delrahim Assured Senator Blumenthal He Wasn’t Lobbied by White House on AT&T Deal

President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead antitrust enforcement at the Justice Department recently agreed to tell lawmakers if the White House tries to improperly influence any decision he makes on whether to allow AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. The commitment came in a meeting between the nominee, Makan Delrahim, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who wrote a July 24 letter memorializing the discussion.

“I particularly appreciated your commitment that you will brief me, in an appropriate setting, any time the White House initiates an inappropriate communication with you or anybody in the Antitrust Division,” the senator wrote to Delrahim after the meeting. People familiar with the meeting, which also included Senate and Justice Department staffers, confirmed the exchange and said the men also generally discussed the importance of the department’s independence. They said Delrahim additionally provided assurances that officials at the White House have not sought to lobby him on AT&T. The White House and the Justice Department communicate with one another, but protocols governing those discussions seek to assure that the department can operate free from improper political intervention.

Democratic Senators demand changes to FCC Republican nominee's confirmation

The Federal Communications Commission is one step closer to being fully staffed, but Democratic Sens are fighting Republican Sens on details for Republican nominee Brendan Carr's confirmation. During a hearing on Aug 2, members of the Senate Commerce Committee voted to approve the confirmations of Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel and Republican Brendan Carr to the FCC panel of Commissioners. Current Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s reconfirmation to the FCC was also approved by lawmakers. The trio’s confirmation will proceed to a Senate-wide vote, requiring a simple majority for approval. If it passes, the Commission will be at full quorum, going from two Republicans and one Democrat to three Republicans and two Democrats.

Despite advancing, Democratic Sens contested Pai and Carr’s confirmations. Some Democrats, including Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Brian Schatz (D-HI), voted against Pai’s renomination. Democrats voted along party lines against Carr’s nomination, saying that while they had no issue with Carr being nominated to his first year-and-a-half term, they did not yet want to agree to approving a second five-year term. Commerce Committee’s Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-FL) noted Senate leaders of both parties were negotiating a deal for a final vote on the confirmations. According to Sen Nelson, the agreement would only include approval of Carr’s first year-and-a-half term. Other Democrats cited precedent as reason for pushing back against approving Carr to two terms. “We’re trying to keep the traditions of the committee intact,” Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) argued as he explained that the committee had not heard from current Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn as to whether or not she would like to be renominated.

White House aide Miller blasts CNN reporter for 'cosmopolitan bias'

White House aide Stephen Miller clashed with CNN's Jim Acosta over the White House's new preferred immigration policy, at one point lambasting the reporter as a "cosmopolitan." The exchange was among several contentious moments at the White House briefing, where Miller touted a bill reducing legal immigration that President Donald Trump helped roll out Aug 2.

Miller and Acosta butted heads over the legislation. Acosta, who said his father immigrated from Cuba before the Cuban Missile Crisis, questioned whether the White House's policy is in keeping with American tradition. "You are sort of bringing a 'press 1 for English' philosophy here to immigration and that's never been what the United States has been about," Acosta said. "Are we just going to bring in people from Great Britain and Australia?" Miller pounced at that point. "I can honestly say: I am shocked at your statement that you think only people from Great Britain and Australia would know English. It reveals your cosmopolitan bias to a shocking degree, this is an amazing moment," he said, speaking over Acosta as the reporter tried to interject.

Verizon’s new rewards program lets it track your browsing history

Verizon has a new rewards program out, called Verizon Up, which awards users a credit for every $300 they spend on their Verizon bill that can be redeemed toward various rewards. Customers will be able to get rewards such as “Device Dollars toward your next device purchase, discounts on an accessory, or partner rewards,” along with other surprise offerings and first-come, first-serve ticket opportunities, which all seems like a nice occasional thing to get for regularly paying your cellphone bill.

But, the new program comes with a pretty big catch: you have to enroll in Verizon Selects, a program that allows the company to track a huge chunk of your personal data. That includes web browsing, app usage, device location, service usage, demographic info, postal or email address, and your interests. Furthermore, that data gets shared with Verizon’s newly formed Oath combination (aka AOL and Yahoo), plus with “vendors and partners” who work with Verizon. Which is kind of a long list of people who have access to what feels like a fairly significant amount of your data.

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