Big Tech Was The Enemy of the House Judiciary Committee, Until Partisanship Fractured the Battle Plans

For all the divisions in Washington, one issue that had united Republicans and Democrats in recent years was their animus toward the power of the biggest tech companies. That bipartisanship was supposed to come together soon in a landmark House report that caps a 15-month investigation into the practices of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. The report was set to feature recommendations from lawmakers to rein in the companies, including the most sweeping changes to US antitrust laws in half a century. But over the past few days, support for the recommendations has split largely along party lines, apparently.

On Oct 5, the Democratic staff on the House Judiciary Committee delayed the report’s release because they were unable to gain Republican support. Apparently, Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-OH) has asked his colleagues not to endorse the Democratic-led report. And Rep Ken Buck (R-CO) has circulated a separate report — titled “The Third Way” — that pushes back against some of the Democrats’ legislative recommendations.