Three nominees for the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors expressed willingness Wednesday to defend negotiated service agreements with Amazon if they prove to be fruitful deals for the agency. President Donald Trump ordered a task force to analyze the USPS’ financial situation, which he says is worsened by Amazon deals (see 1804130059). During a confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, ranking member Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., expressed concern that presidential task forces often “tell presidents what they want to hear.” Those who have confronted Trump have been “shown the door” in a short period of time, she said. Nominees David Williams, Robert Duncan and Calvin Tucker agreed to, in McCaskill’s words, stand up to the president if the deals are beneficial. But McCaskill said negotiated service agreements with UPS and FedEx also need to be analyzed. “I don’t think we’re going back in terms of volume of packages in this country, and I am very concerned that we have enabled our competition to be more successful while we’ve hamstrung the Postal Service,” McCaskill said. Duncan said the facts will lead to the truth, and Tucker said he doesn’t necessarily anticipate a confrontation with Trump but is willing to challenge assumptions. “There’s no question [Trump’s] on a mission here. He’s got a thing about the man who owns Amazon,” McCaskill said, referring to Jeff Bezos. Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., shared McCaskill’s “frustrations” about gathering contract data from the USPS and said he looks forward to the task force’s findings. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Trump and McCaskill appear to be on the same side in this issue, but McCaskill said that unlike UPS and FedEx, Amazon isn't a USPS competitor but rather a customer. The question is whether the USPS is charging adequately, Paul said. There's a price where Amazon will deliver packages on its own, and the USPS needs to find the appropriate price, he added. Paul said he doesn't dislike Amazon but dislikes losing billions of dollars.
President Donald Trump signed anti-sex trafficking legislation Wednesday (see 1803210064), calling human trafficking the “modern form of the oldest and most barbaric type of exploitation.” Trump thanked lead sponsors including Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo.
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross were among the leaders of a dozen federal agencies and councils that signed on Monday to a White House-drafted memorandum of understanding to establish a coordinated process for environmental reviews of broadband and other major infrastructure projects. The MOU sets up the process President Donald Trump mandated in an August executive order that required one lead federal agency to spearhead reviews for each major infrastructure project (see 1708150067). Trump emphasized the need for streamlining the permitting process as part of his push for major infrastructure legislation, including in a February proposal that also included $200 billion in funding (see 1802110001 and 1802120001). The MOU designates the lead agency to “decide whether a project sponsor has identified the reasonable availability of funds, and whether the project otherwise meets the requirements for being identified as a major infrastructure project. It also requires the lead review agency be determined “as soon as practicable for each project." The document requires all signatory agencies and councils to do their reviews simultaneously rather than sequentially, as part of Trump's goal to reduce the permitting timeline to two years.
More than 95 percent of the Executive Office of the President’s email domains are at risk of widespread phishing attacks, the Global Cyber Alliance reported Wednesday. The report claims 18 of 26 EOP-managed email domains lack Domain Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) protocol, which the Department of Homeland Security requires for all federal civilian agencies. Another seven domains have deployed DMARC protocol at a substandard level, the firm said. The White House didn't comment right away.
Amazon shares fell another 1 percent Tuesday before rebounding, and some analysts said they saw the recent drop from a 52-week high of $1,617.54 (see 1804020050) as a buy opportunity. Shares wound up closing 1.5 percent higher Tuesday at $1,392.05. President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday: “I am right about Amazon costing the United States Post Office massive amounts of money for being their Delivery Boy. Amazon should pay these costs (plus) and not have them bourne [sic] by the American Taxpayer. Many billions of dollars. P.O. leaders don’t have a clue (or do they?)!” The company didn’t comment. Last week, Trump blasted Amazon on possible antitrust grounds (see 1803290049), for “putting many thousands of retailers out of business” and for paying “little to no taxes to state & local governments.” Barclays cautioned investors in a Tuesday research note about “potential regulatory risk” for e-commerce providers over tax policy and shipping costs. Barclays cited the power Amazon has accrued from its business model of selling products close to bill of exchange and generating profit in other areas like Prime fees and advertising vs traditional retailers with higher cost structures. It warned of “additional scrutiny around tax collections” from third-party sellers that would weigh down growth for Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Shopify. On shipping cost inflation risk, Barclays said every 15 percent bump in USPS shipping rates for the last mile would wipe out 13 percent of Amazon retail operating income “assuming the company doesn't come up with another low-cost option to replace USPS.” The analyst firm doesn’t see antitrust as a viable path for regulators “given the low market share.” Barclays remains bullish long term on e-commerce but isn’t expecting much from the sector “until some of these sentiment headwinds abate and the conversation moves back toward innovation.” The Washington Post, which is owned personally by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, reported that government officials have told Trump that USPS profits from contracts with Amazon. Trump claimed over the weekend that USPS loses an average of $1.50 for every package it delivers for Amazon.
National Economic Council Special Assistant to the President for Infrastructure Policy D.J. Gribbin “will be moving on to new opportunities,” a White House official confirmed to us Tuesday. Gribbin, a former Macquarie Capital executive, joined the NEC to advise on President Donald Trump's infrastructure legislative proposal work (see 1702270021). Trump's plan, released in February, proposes $50 billion in federal funding for rural infrastructure projects allocated via state block grants that could be spent for broadband. It would also deal with streamlining broadband-related regulations (see 1802120001). The proposal has since encountered criticism from members of both parties on Capitol Hill. Gribbin “was a key part of the team that turned [Trump's] ambitious vision for rebuilding America’s infrastructure into the policy proposal the President released in February,” said new National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow.
President Donald Trump attacked Amazon in a Thursday Twitter post, fueling further speculation about reports he's looking to target the e-commerce firm on antitrust grounds. Trump tweeted he has been concerned about Amazon since “long before” the 2016 presidential election, saying the company is “putting many thousands of retailers out of business.” Amazon also pays “little to no taxes to state & local governments” and uses the U.S. Postal Service “as their Delivery Boy,” which causes “tremendous loss to the U.S.,” he said. Trump “made it clear” he has concerns about Amazon's practices, a White House spokeswoman said. Trump “has said many times before he’s always looking to create a level playing field for all businesses and this is no different,” said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a Wednesday news briefing. Amazon didn't comment. There has been rising Hill scrutiny of top edge providers, including multiple planned hearings on Facebook and the Cambridge Analytica controversy (see 1803210019, 1803190056, 1803200047, 1803220052, 1803260041 and 1803270043).
Senate Science Forum co-Chairmen Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., called on the Trump administration Thursday to appoint a director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, noting the job has been vacant since the end of the Obama administration. The last OSTP director, John Holdren, left the office in January 2017. Holdren earlier this year questioned the direction of OSTP under President Donald Trump (see 1801180055 and 1801230064). “We know legislators from both parties are eager to work with an OSTP Director who has the administrative and legal authority to lead broad-based federal science and technology efforts and the credibility and stature to bring partners in industry and academia to the table,” Peters and Warner said in a letter to Trump. “We need such a partner to maintain America’s position at the forefront of science and technology innovation.” The White House didn't immediately comment.
President Donald Trump backs a deal Hill leaders reached Wednesday on the provisions in the $1.3 trillion FY 2018 omnibus spending bill, the White House said. Trump endorsed the measure after meeting with Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. They “discussed their support for the bill, which includes more funds to rebuild the military, such as the largest pay raise for our troops in a decade, more than 100 miles of new construction for the border wall and other key domestic priorities, like combatting the opioid crisis and rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure,” said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in a statement. The omnibus' final text was expected to be released late Wednesday. The omnibus appears likely to include substantial funding for rural broadband projects via additional funding directed to the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service, Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., told reporters Wednesday. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., meanwhile, echoed other telecom-focused lawmakers' assessments that language from the House-passed Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act FCC reauthorization and spectrum legislative package (HR-4986) would likely be included in the omnibus (see 1803130059 and 1803150043). “We anticipate that it will make it” to Trump, likely via the omnibus, Blackburn said during an American Cable Association event (see Notebook at the end of 1803210053). The additional RUS-directed funding likely to be in the final omnibus will be in the form of a pilot program that will be “hopefully pinpointed to the areas” that are “underserved and unserved” and “have the greatest need, which is what I've been pushing for,” Capito told reporters. She wasn't sure what the exact funding amount would be, but a lobbyist said industry was expecting around $600 million. Capito said there may also be additional funding to improve broadband coverage mapping efforts. “Time after time we've heard how faulty the mapping is,” she said. Senate Commerce Committee members raised concerns about the FCC's broadband maps during two hearings last week on Trump's infrastructure legislative proposal (see 1802270043, 1803130056 and 1803140058).
The U.S. government has taken initial steps to secure federal networks and critical infrastructure, but the process of securing the IoT has just begun, said White House tech policy adviser Kelsey Guyselman Tuesday. Speaking at an event hosted by the American Bar Association and the FCBA, Guyselman detailed the goals of President Donald Trump’s executive order from May. Botnets and other automated threats aren't problems that can be solved by a single entity, agency or sector, she said, urging a collaborative approach to securing the IoT. Guyselman spoke in place of NTIA Administrator David Redl, who couldn't attend due to a scheduling conflict. On a separate panel, DOJ Computer Crime-Criminal Division Deputy Chief Michael Stawasz opposed the EU's general data protection regulation potentially impeding criminal investigations abroad. While working full-time to gain legal access to private data, and balancing law enforcement and privacy concerns, Stawasz said he likes the U.S.’ current framework “just fine.” The GDPR could potentially conflict with warrant compliance, he said. Wiley Rein's Megan Brown said, based on discussions with industry and officials in Europe, there has been a “slow awakening” that the GDPR could interfere with surveillance.