Politico

Republican leaders and lawmakers are setting their sights on a new target as they head into a difficult midterm election: an increasingly-powerful tech industry they view as biased against conservatives.

Geoffrey Starks, who sailed through a Senate Commerce Committee confirmation vote with unanimous backing, had seemed poised June 28 to assume a vacant Federal Communications Commission seat in a Senate vote by unanimous consent, paired with current-FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s nomination for a second term. But despite optimism from Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), the nominations didn't go through.

With Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announcing he will retire come July 31, the high court could be headed for a major shift as the president will look to solidify the body’s conservative majority. Here’s a look at how some of his opinions have shaped the technology and telecommunications spheres — and what his absence could mean going forward. A perennial swing vote in his more than 20 years on the high court, Justice Kennedy served as the deciding vote on numerous high-profile legal battles.

Two tribes and a group of companies that get telecom subsidies under the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program want the FCC to hold off on its plan to limit the types of companies that get more Lifeline money to support subscribers on tribal lands. In 2017, the FCC approved a plan that would eliminate extra funding on tribal lands for wireless resellers, and limit the areas eligible for a higher subsidy. The enhanced subsidy adds an extra $25 to the monthly $9.25 per-subscriber total that Lifeline companies receive.

As long as Federal Communications Commission nominee Geoffrey Starks is able to supply his post-confirmation hearing paperwork quickly, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) wants to include Starks' nomination on a June 27 markup and then move it on the floor paired with the nomination of current FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr for a second term. "I think the FCC [nominations] should move quickly," said Chairman Thune. Starks enjoyed a drama-free confirmation hearing June 20.