Markey in Line for Senate Communications Gavel if Schatz Shifts
Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts is in contention to get the Communications Subcommittee gavel as soon as this week after Democrats take control of the chamber, lobbyists and officials told us. Plans to swap out Communications' current lead Democrat, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, haven’t been finalized. Senate GOP Whip John Thune of South Dakota is expected to remain his party’s lead subcommittee member (see 2011020048).
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Markey could again be in a top role on telecom policymaking after an earlier 22-year stint as House Communications lead Democrat. Markey relinquished the chair in 2009 (see 0901090132) and is active on telecom and tech policy. Officials believe a Chairman Markey would play an even larger role than last Congress in shepherding expected work on net neutrality legislation (see 2101060055), among other items.
“There’s going to be significant interest” among House Democrats to bring back the Save the Internet Act or similar legislation this Congress, with Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania again leading the effort in that chamber, said Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., in an interview. “We’re looking at it right now.” It “would be really strong if Congress” can legislate on net neutrality even if the FCC acts on the issue again, McNerney said. “The real issue is that we want to get the policy right. If this is too difficult to get through the Senate,” then “we can urge the [FCC] to move forward on rulemaking” on its own.
Schatz’s future as Senate Communications leader is in doubt because the chamber’s Democratic caucus adopted a rule last month barring its party’s top members on high-level committees from also leading a subcommittee, unless all other members pass on the role. Schatz is likely to become Indian Affairs Committee chairman, following the retirement of Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico, who was the panel’s top Democrat last Congress. Democrats are “working through” whether Schatz’s leadership of Indian Affairs would require him to relinquish the Communications chair, lobbyists said. Schatz didn’t comment Tuesday.
Two Senate Communications Democrats have seniority over Markey but are in line for leadership on other panels. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is likely to become Rules Committee chair. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut is likely to chair the Commerce Committee’s Consumer Protection Subcommittee. Blumenthal, Klobuchar and Markey didn’t comment.
The chairmanship would amplify Markey’s calls for President-elect Joe Biden to nominate Joey Wender, the senator's senior policy adviser, as NTIA administrator, lobbyists said. Markey has publicly backed Wender for the role since Biden won the election. Markey would likely also play a larger role in work on additional broadband funding, lobbyists said. He got E-rate money in the FY 2021 appropriations and pandemic aid package enacted last month (see 2012210055).
Several communications sector observers pointed generally to Markey’s resume as an asset for Democrats’ telecom policy goals as they retake full control of Congress.
“He’s got unparalleled experience” in communications policy, from his time as House Communications chair and his more than seven years on Senate Communications, said Michael Calabrese, director of New America’s Open Technology Institute Wireless Future Program. “He’s the father” of many aspects of the 1996 Telecommunications Act and played a major role in shaping the direction of USF and spectrum programs.
Free Press has always “agreed with and appreciated [Markey’s] leadership on so many issues, including broadband rights and consumer issues” for telecom, said Vice President-Policy Matt Wood. “There’s not a wealth of institutional knowledge throughout the House and Senate when it comes to tech and telecom issues,” so Markey’s “long history and track record” on those matters is “a good thing.”
Markey would get the Senate “driver’s seat” on net neutrality legislation, said one lobbyist who follows Democratic thinking. Markey was the lead Senate sponsor of the Save the Internet Act, which sought to restore FCC 2015 net neutrality rules and reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service (see 1904100062).
The road forward on net neutrality legislation isn’t certain, even with unified Democratic control of Congress and the White House, lawmakers and lobbyists said. There will be “a ton of pressure to pick off five or six” House Democrats and at least one member of the Senate caucus to oppose legislation that involves Title II reclassification, one Democratic lobbyist said. "We all know how hard it is to move a bill all the way from the initial stages to enacting it into law," Wood said.