Policymakers

Nathan Simington is the newest commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, but just one year into his role, the former National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) official is bringing his all to the table. The Republican commissioner recently spoke about his reaction to the FCC and NTIA's newly announced Spectrum Coordination Initiative, as well as his views on inter-agency collaboration and social media regulation.

National Economic Councilmember Tim Wu said the Biden administration has adopted a different perspective on how to promote innovation — while previous White Houses might’ve said “trust the giants,” this one believes “small is beautiful.” Wu, Special Assistant to the President for Technology and Competition Policy, pushed back on what he termed the “monopoly innovation” theory that he says has dominated antitrust thinking for several decades. According to that view, he said, the high prices a monopoly can charge encourages it to innovate and develop new technologies.

Change is coming to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the next Congress, a pattern of turnover that has become a staple of the powerful panel over the past 15 years. The list of those leaving is already significant. Five Democrats on the committee won’t be back for the 118th Congress. Among Republicans, Rep Billy Long (R-MO) is making his own Senate run. Other committee members are in real danger of losing their seats, including Reps David McKinley (R-WV) and Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ), both of whom are locked in tough reelection fights after redistricting.

Alan Davidson, the newly confirmed head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), will manage tens of billions of federal spending on broadband — but he's also talking about helping set administration policy around app stores and privacy. In his first major interview since taking the NTIA helm, Davidson said his biggest priority is making sure every American has access to affordable, high-speed internet.

Vice President Kamala Harris called on all US internet service providers to back efforts to provide more affordable broadband options for consumers, as the Federal Communications Commission announced more than 10 million people have signed up for its Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission nominees will remain stalled in the Senate for weeks, further jeopardizing progressives’ ambitious technology and telecommunications agendas. Floor votes to confirm FCC nominee Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] and FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya may not happen until at least March 2022 due to GOP opposition and the absence of Sen Ben Ray Luján (D-NM).

The US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo has appointed 29 outside experts to serve on the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (CSMAC), which provides advice on a range of policy and technical issues related to wireless technology and the use of spectrum.

Opposition to President Joe Biden’s pick for the Federal Communications Commission is rooted in a desire to deny Democrats a majority of agency seats, said nominee Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] in prepared testimony for a Senate committee hearing February 9. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a second confirmation hearing for Sohn, who was initially nominated in late 2021, at the request of Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS).

As we move past the first anniversary of the Biden administration taking office, it’s a good moment to start defining the Biden Tech Doctrine based on what we’ve seen so far. There’s a dynamic in some sibling relationships—a big brother who squabbles with his younger siblings at home but is the first to defend them when someone picks on them at school.

President Joe Biden’s Federal Communications Commission nominee, Gigi Sohn, will face questions from a Senate panel once again on Feb 9 amid ongoing delays to her confirmation. Progressive tech advocates are growing increasingly frustrated by the delays, casting blame on the White House and Senate Democratic leadership for stalling and catering to Republicans who they say are raising disingenuous concerns. Sohn appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee in December for a hearing on her nomination.