Policymakers

The Federal Communications Commission is the lead U.S.

Lilian Coral, an experienced public interest and technology leader, has joined New America as Senior Director of the Open Technology Institute (OTI) and Head of New America’s Technology and Democracy Programs. Coral will oversee New America’s work on a broad range of issues at the intersection of technology and democracy at a time when digital equity, privacy concerns, online free expression, and other key tech policy issues are at the forefront of US public debate. Coral served most recently as Director of National Strategy and Tech Innovation at the John S. & James L.

The 117th Congress is nearing its end. There are still several broadband policy issues and related matters for Congress to sort out. Meanwhile, the current Congress has few working days left in 2022—and still needs to pass a budget for 2023—and it's unclear how much legislation will reach President Biden's desk when Republicans gain the House majority in January. Here are two policy matters to watch for the remaining days of this Congress:

The Federal Communications Commission appointed Burt Cohen, Staff Attorney and Broadband Coordinator for the State of Connecticut, Office of Consumer Counsel, to serve as the State Consumer Advocate representative on the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service. This appointment fills the position recently vacated by the William “Bill” Vallee of the Connecticut State Office of Consumer Counsel. 

A new approach to tech policy is taking root in the GOP, and it’s not what you might expect from the party of Alan Greenspan and Friedrich Hayek. Led by a handful of ambitious, policy-minded senators, a group of conservatives is embracing the idea of subsidizing the tech industry and advanced manufacturing—with an eye toward building a competitive edge over China, and revitalizing the hollowed-out industrial centers that have given the party its Trump-era populist verve.

Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D-VA) died Nov 28, just weeks after winning reelection to Congress, his office announced. He was 61. Rep. McEachin had represented Virginia’s 4th District, which stretches from Richmond to the North Carolina line, since 2017. Before that, he had served nine years as a state senator and eight as a delegate. A minister and lawyer, Rep. McEachin was the Democratic nominee for state attorney general in 2001, losing to Republican Jerry Kilgore. State Sen. L.

The Commerce Department, under Secretary Gina Raimondo’s leadership, is now poised to begin distributing nearly $100 billion — roughly 10 times the department’s annual budget — to build up the U.S. chip industry and expand broadband access throughout the country. How Raimondo handles that task will have big implications for the United States economy going forward.

As the dust settles on the 2022 midterm elections, we take a look at how members of the House and Senate Commerce Committees fared and who we can expect back when the 118th Congress convenes in January 2023.

In the weeks since Elon Musk took over the platform, his erratic leadership and bewildering choices have alienated many of Twitter’s power users, a core crop of whom are part of the American political establishment. But leaving a communications channel that’s become central to how Washington works won’t be easy. Washington takes Twitter very seriously. Twitter is a place where all the worlds that make up Washington — the politicians, the policy experts, the press, academics, activists, and others — gather.

State and territory broadband offices have dramatically increased in size over the past year as they deploy billions of dollars in economic recovery funds and start to manage a historic federal investment in broadband expansion.