U.S. policy is moving toward more deregulation and reliance on antitrust enforcement to address market abuses, said American Enterprise Institute visiting scholar Jeffrey Eisenach, a member of then-President-elect Donald Trump's FCC transition team. In a speech at an FCBA event Wednesday, Eisenach gave a big thumbs-up to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, and he singled out William Kennard, chairman from 1997 to 2001, for laying a deregulatory foundation. “What is the path forward? I think Chairman Pai is on it," Eisenach said. "He’s not only insisting on and promoting debate around the facts, the issues, and analysis, but also ... cheerfully using communications skills.” Eisenach is "especially enthusiastic" about Pai's proposal to create an Office of Economics and Data. He credited Kennard for devising a strategic plan in the late 1990s that envisioned an agency transition from industry regulator to market facilitator as the internet and other innovations eroded distinctions between market segments. He said that plan was the "touchstone" of the Trump FCC transition team. “After many delays and detours, we seem to be back on a path that … will lead to the replacement of ex-ante regulation in the communications sector with a framework ultimately grounded in antitrust," he said. Eisenach said President Jimmy Carter and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., collaborated on airline and trucking deregulation in the late 1970s, and President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., collaborated on the 1996 Telecom Act: “It’s far too much to hope that President Trump and Senator [Al] Franken [D-Minn.] will appear together at some point endorsing the same piece of legislation, but we have to hope." Government still will be needed, Eisenach said, such as in managing spectrum and providing subsidies and incentives to build out broadband; the question is how best to do it. He said there's a role for government to fund some broadband infrastructure efforts in remote rural areas. "Far and away, not the biggest waste of government money by any stretch would be to just do some direct spending in conjunction with incentives," he said, while warning against overdoing it. Eisenach congratulated and joked about ex-Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, whom Trump said he would nominate to another term at the FCC (see 1706140046 and 1706140065). "Better late than never, but better now than sooner. So, I can’t resist. I’m happy she’s coming back to the commission and I’m so happy she’s been gone. Sorry,” he said, drawing some laughs.
Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., filed the Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement (Covfefe) Act Monday in a bid to amend the Presidential Records Act to include a president’s social media posts. The bill’s title refers to a now-deleted May 31 tweet from President Donald Trump in which he talked about “the constant negative press covfefe.” Adding “social media” to the list of PRA-covered records could make it illegal for Trump and future presidents to delete any such content, Quigley’s office said. Trump’s “frequent, unfiltered use of his personal Twitter account as a means of official communication is unprecedented,” Quigley said in a news release. “If the President is going to take to social media to make sudden public policy proclamations, we must ensure that these statements are documented and preserved for future reference.” The White House didn’t comment.
The Transportation Department “issued a public call in the Federal Register soliciting solutions and suggestions on ways to improve government permitting,” Secretary Elaine Chao said at headquarters Friday during an event on the administration's infrastructure effort. “If you have ideas, we want to hear.” She recently said an administration infrastructure proposal is likely coming in Q3 and named broadband as one component (see 1706070029). “The excruciating wait time for permitting has inflicted enormous financial pain for cities and states,” President Donald Trump said at the event. The administration is “setting up a new council to help project managers” manage the federal bureaucracy, Trump said, promising “a new online dashboard allowing everyone to track every project through every stage of the approval process. This council will make sure that every federal agency that is consistently delaying projects by missing deadlines will face tough new penalties.”
President Donald Trump's blocking of certain Twitter users violates the First Amendment, wrote the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Tuesday's letter addressed to Trump said clients Holly O'Reilly and Joseph Papp were blocked from @realDonaldTrump "because they disagreed with, criticized, or mocked you or your actions as President." The letter said Trump's account is a "designated public forum" just like open city council or school board meetings. The institute said blocking O'Reilly and Papp is "unconstitutional" and it wants the president to unblock them and any others. The letter was written by Jameel Jaffer, the institute's founding director, and attorneys Alex Abdo and Katherine Fallow. It was also sent to White House counsel Donald McGahn, Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Director of Social Media Dan Scavino. The White House didn't comment.
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, criticized a possible forthcoming Trump administration infrastructure plan, writing repeated attacks on Twitter in recent days. The administration is working on infrastructure this week, starting with a focus on air traffic control Monday. “Thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, welcome to the beginning of a new era for American infrastructure,” Vice President Mike Pence said Monday of the efforts. The administration outline for a plan is “literally the opposite of an infrastructure plan” and “dead on arrival,” Schatz tweeted. “POTUS is NOT proposing money for infrastructure. It's tax cuts for financiers, privatizing public property. Not infrastructure.” He touted broadband in another tweet Monday: “A real infrastructure proposal: 1 trillion in NEW money for roads, bridges, rail, harbors, grid upgrades, airports, broadband.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also tweeted criticism Monday, saying Trump’s “infrastructure ‘proposal’ focuses on privatization, which really means less construction & fewer jobs, particularly in rural areas.” Last month, Schatz called the administration efforts “pretty weak tea” so far (see 1705240050).
President Donald Trump nominated Karen Dunn Kelley, senior managing director-investments at Invesco, to be undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs. She was nominated Thursday for the post that was held by Justin Antonipillai, who co-led negotiations on Privacy Shield from 2013-16. The trans-Atlantic agreement is approaching its first required review in September (see 1704200034). Dunn joined Invesco in 1989, according to the company's profile.
President Donald Trump's FY 2018 federal budget request proposes funding increases to the U.S. Cyber Command and several departments’ cybersecurity programs, in contrast to proposed cuts to many agencies like the FCC (see 1705230041). The White House proposed $1.45 billion for the Department of Homeland Security's National Protection and Programs Directorate, which handles DHS cybersecurity programs. That's below the $1.8 billion allotted to NPPD for FY 2017 under the April measure funding the government through Sept. 30 (see 1705010047). NPPD funding includes $721 million earmarked for the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program and other cybersecurity efforts. Trump's proposal would allocate $200 million to the State Department for combating cyberattacks and $5 million to department programs that will “help protect U.S. citizens and U.S. businesses from organized crime by strengthening national legal regimes to enable them to combat” IP theft, cybercrime and “related IT-enabled crimes.” The document would allocate $228 million to a proposed fund for modernizing federal IT systems to be created via the Modernizing Government Technology Act (HR-2227/S-990), which is “moving in parallel” with Trump’s budget request. The House passed HR-2227 last week on a voice vote (see 1705180046).
President Donald Trump's Thursday notice to Congress that he plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement spurred tech groups to recommend the White House address copyright-related issues in any update of the 1994 deal. NAFTA hasn't changed, “while our economy and businesses have changed considerably,” said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in a letter to House and Senate leaders: “Many chapters are outdated and do not reflect modern standards. For example, digital trade was in its infancy when NAFTA was enacted. In addition, and consistent with the negotiating objectives in the Trade Priorities and Accountability Act, our aim is that NAFTA be modernized to include new provisions to address” IP rights and other issues. The administration can begin renegotiation 90 days after notifying Congress, the White House said. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross hailed the move as a sign that “free and fair trade is the new standard for U.S. trade deals.” The Telecommunications Industry Association believes it's a “timely opportunity” to update the agreement “by incorporating new rules of digital trade and related policies that will make internet-based services and other digital products more affordable and accessible,” said Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Cinnamon Rogers: “It is essential to maintain existing elements of the agreement that have contributed to U.S. leadership" in information and communications technology. NAFTA “was negotiated before the emergence of the Internet as an engine for international commerce, and consequently lacks rules protecting and promoting digital trade,” said BSA|The Software Alliance. Any inclusion of a chapter in the renegotiated NAFTA on copyright "must have mandatory language on copyright limitations and exceptions, including fair use,” the Re:Create Coalition said.
The Trump administration is “finally talking to us a little bit” on FCC nominations, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said in an interview Wednesday after suggesting his telecom legislation “will probably free up” on the Senate floor if Jessica Rosenworcel is renominated for the open Democratic commissioner spot. Thune suggested more communication is underway: “It’s moving.” He said committee staffers are feeling more positive on these fronts. “There’s nobody at this point really that’s taken the lead on it,” Thune said of the Trump administration’s positions on telecom matters. "I suspect when we get that [NTIA administrator] position filled, that’ll be the key one.” A Thune aide said the issues tended to have been raised in the context of infrastructure. Thune previously said he conveyed his legislative impasse over FCC nominations to the White House and referred to interviews for the GOP commissioner spot (see 1705020061). Spokespeople for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., didn't comment when asked if the White House has been in touch on FCC nominations. A White House spokesman declined comment. Tuesday, the administration said it's nominating David Redl for NTIA chief (see 1705170056).
The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition plans to unveil Wednesday a letter to President Donald Trump urging his administration to include broadband in any bigger infrastructure package. The coalition expects at least 29 companies and groups to sign on, said an advisory announcing a news-media call scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. EDT featuring Executive Director John Windhausen and others.