Policymakers

Lisa Hone, a longtime Federal Communications Commission attorney with deep expertise in broadband policy, has joined the National Economic Council team to steer the Biden administration's broadband expansion efforts. Hone's primary focus is ensuring that money Congress allocated through the American Rescue Plan Act is spent appropriately. Hone, who officially started her job as senior adviser for broadband and technology policy the week of May 31, is now the White House's point person on broadband deployment efforts happening across the government.

A sign in front of a church not far from my home has for the past many months read: “We’ll get through this together by staying apart.” As Spring is here and we awaken from more than a year of social distancing, we gather today to celebrate the people who helped their communities come together.

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH) urged Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) to schedule an oversight hearing to review the Federal Communication Commission’s implementation plans regarding key connectivity programs and their commitment to free speech.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) are joining the American Edge Project and will work to promote “internet openness, accessibility and free expression” as lawmakers inch towards regulating the major tech companies. In addition to Facebook, the group’s members include tech trade group NetChoice and the Connected Commerce Council.

Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) announced Rep Michael McCaul (R-TX) as House co-chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus. Congressman McCaul succeeds Congressman Doug Collins (R-GA) as the Internet Caucus co-chair. Rep McCaul serves as the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Ranking Member and represents the 10th district of Texas. Repr McCaul also serves as the Chairman Emeritus on the House Committee on Homeland Security and the founder of the Congressional High Tech Caucus

One policy issue that has haunted every Federal Communications Commission in the past decade, and then some, is net neutrality. That’s the idea that internet service providers have to treat all content equally and can’t slow down or charge more for certain kinds of content. Rules have ping-ponged between administrations. Obama’s FCC put neutrality rules in place in 2015 and Trump’s appointee repealed them in 2017. New Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel supports net neutrality rules. She said, "I think things are always sturdier when they’re written into law.

Vice President Harris will lead the Biden administration's unprecedented effort to ensure every American has access to affordable, high-speed Internet. President Biden announced the Vice President would take the lead on the issue during his first address to a slimmed-down joint session of Congress, where he touted his proposal to create new jobs through investment in expanding Internet access.

The Supreme Court curbed the Federal Trade Commission’s longtime practice of seeking to recover ill-gotten gains in court from companies and individuals who cheat or mislead consumers, upending a central enforcement tool the agency has relied on for decades. The court, in an opinion by Justice Stephen Breyer, ruled unanimously that a 1973 law, which gives the FTC the right to seek court injunctions to stop fraudulent or deceptive commercial activity, doesn’t grant the commission the power to seek financial judgments as well.

Longtime Google critic Jonathan Kanter is quickly becoming the preferred choice of tech skeptics on both sides of the aisle to lead the Justice Department's antitrust division and its case against Google. The preference for Kanter over his potential rival, Obama administration alumnus Jonathan Sallet, is the latest instance of progressive and conservative tech critics finding common ground over their anger at dominant tech companies, even as they struggle to find solutions they can agree on, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions happening on Capitol Hill. "Kanter would