Gov performance

As a result of the recent lapse in funding, the Federal Communications Commission suspended most operations from the middle of the day on January 3, 2019, through January 25, 2019, for a total of 23 days. Among other things, certain electronic filing and database systems were unavailable from January 3, 2019, until January 28, 2019. Because parties did not have full access to some electronic systems and databases during the suspension of operations, the FCC has determined to further extend the deadlines for filings according to the following schedule.

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) fired off a letter to the Department of Homeland Security seeking to "better understand the shutdown’s toll on our national security," and sought answers on what, if any, cybersecurity risks were posed by the recent, and possibly future, government shutdown(s). "Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was forced to suspend crucial efforts to protect our cybersecurity and infrastructure," said Sen Warner. "Also hindered was the FBI’s ability to conduct cyber investigations.

Lawmakers are voicing concern about how the partial government shutdown is slowing the work of key tech and telecom agencies. House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) called a Jan. 31 hearing on how the shutdown is affecting federal agencies, and the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission will be part of the mix. Both agencies have furloughed large parts of their staff, and many of their regular activities have been paused. Expect questions about the FCC’s ability to police robocalls and the FTC’s stalled investigation of Facebook’s privacy practices.

Many have tried and few have succeeded when it comes to dragging Congress into the modern age, said Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA). Indeed, Hill staffers have bemoaned being unable to use cutting-edge software or even Apple computers since the early aughts. But as chairman of the new Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, Rep.

Upon reflection, it is easy to see that 2018 was a year of widening divides. Communications policy was no exception. In the midst of a partial government shutdown, we take a look at how partisan division at the Federal Communications Commission is shutting down progress towards closing the digital divide. While we expect partisan division to persist, the change in House leadership means we are likely to see more scrutiny of Chairman Pai's deregulatory agenda.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai requesting he provide an emergency briefing to Committee staff on why the FCC has yet to end wireless carriers’ unauthorized disclosure of consumers’ real-time location data and what actions the FCC has taken to address the issue to date. Chairman Pallone wrote that an emergency briefing is necessary in the interest of public safety and national security, and therefore cannot wait until President Donald Trump decides to reopen the government. 

Spring 2018, soon after Facebook acknowledged that the data of tens of millions of its users had improperly been obtained by the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, a top enforcement official at the Federal Trade Commission drafted a memo about the prospect of disciplining the social network. Lawmakers, consumer advocates and even former commission officials were clamoring for tough action against Facebook, arguing that it had violated an earlier Federal Trade Commission consent decree barring it from misleading users about how their information was shared.

That Facebook can’t stay out of the headlines is not just a crisis for Facebook. It’s also a crisis for the Federal Trade Commission—indeed, it’s a “credibility-check moment.” Every day that passes in which the consent order is not enforced against Facebook adds to speculation that something is deeply broken at the agency. Moreover, the tech firms want the FTC to be named as their sole regulator, pre-empting stronger action by states and their attorneys general to protect privacy.