Devin Henry

The White House denied it has directed federal agencies to stop using social media, saying new restrictions on communications have instead come from within those agencies themselves. “There's nothing that has come from the White House. Absolutely not,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. "There are a couple of these agencies that have had problems adhering to their own policies.” “They haven’t been directed by us to do anything,” he said. Since President Trump took office, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been told not to tweet or communicate with the media while the agency reviews its public relations strategy. The Interior Department was also reportedly instructed to stop operating its Twitter accounts following a couple of National Park Service tweets about the size of Trump’s inauguration crowd.

Republicans have elected Rep Greg Walden (R-OR) the next Chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. Rep Walden defeated Reps John Shimkus (R-IL) and Joe Barton (R-TX), the former committee chairman, in the race for the gavel. Current Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), is stepping down from the position due to term limits. Support for Rep Walden's elevation to chairman surged after two successful terms as head of the House GOP's campaign arm, a tenure that endeared him to both leadership and the House GOP Steering Committee members who elected him on Dec 1.

A nine-term lawmaker, Rep Walden has experience on both the Energy panel and within the industries over which it has jurisdiction. He previously owned radio stations in Oregon and has chaired the panel’s technology and telecom subcommittee. He has also worked on healthcare issues in rural Oregon.

Both Minnesota senators say they have questions for Comcast and Time Warner before the two media giants are allowed to merge. The only difference: Sens Amy Klobuchar (MN-Democratic-Farmer-Labor) is taking a look, while Al Franken (MN-Democratic-Farmer-Labor) is taking aim.

When the cable giants come before a Senate committee to justify their $45 billion deal, they’ll face an audience of skeptics like Sen Klobuchar, who says she has a series of concerns about the potential merger, and outright critics like Sen Franken, who is working to convince regulators and the public that the merger could be bad for cable and Internet customers.

“I’m concerned that consumers are going to get stuck with higher costs, that this is going to decrease competition, that some people will get less choices, pay more for those choices and get worse service,” Sen Franken said. He has been perhaps the most vocal congressional critic of the merger. He’s written two letters to regulators warning them of his concerns, and waged a public campaign against the deal through both his official office and his campaign, including a rare national television interview in February.