Tech money floods the Senate

Google, Amazon and Microsoft have donated tens of thousands of dollars to key members of the Senate over the past three months. Some of the most significant conversations about the future of tech regulation are moving to the upper chamber, with Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) negotiating with bipartisan lawmakers over tech antitrust legislation and senators considering how to respond to the Senate Commerce Committee’s explosive hearing with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen in October 2021. Sen Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee and Klobuchar’s major GOP partner in taking on “Big Tech,” received $4,000 from Amazon and $1,000 from Google this past quarter. That marked Amazon’s largest-ever donation to Grassley during a single quarter. Sen John Thune (R-SD), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate who recently expressed new openness to breaking up the major social media companies, received $5,000 from Google. But he also received $5,000 from Microsoft — one of the top corporate rivals to the “Big Four” tech companies — which has been agitating behind the scenes against its competitors. Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the chair of the Senate Commerce consumer protection subcommittee, also received a $5,000 donation from Microsoft — as did Sen Brian Schatz (D-HI) and House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY), both of whom have been outspoken against Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google.