China-U.S. relations are “mired in unprecedented difficulties,” and the “fundamental cause is the utterly wrong China policies taken by the Trump administration,” said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Friday. “It is never too late to do the right thing,” said the spokesperson. "We hope the U.S. will choose to follow the trend of the times” and work with China in the “spirit of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation,” he said. The White House didn’t respond to questions.
Free Press, Public Knowledge and 30 other groups want a third Democratic commissioner at the FCC by March 31. Confirmation became more likely after the party regained a Senate majority this month (see 2101060055). The agency is tied 2-2 (see 2012090063). The letter was to Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Commerce Committee lead Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington and lead Republican Roger Wicker of Mississippi. It said the FCC “faces an urgent agenda including implementing the new emergency broadband benefit" and work on issues including Lifeline, using E-rate for remote education, a media ownership quadrennial review, inmate calling service costs, and reclassification of broadband service as a Communications Act Title II service.
Telecom equipment from Huawei and other “untrusted" vendors is “a threat to the security of the U.S. and our allies,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told a news conference Wednesday. During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Tuesday, commerce secretary nominee Gina Raimondo demurred from agreeing to maintain export restrictions against Huawei and other Chinese companies imposed during President Donald Trump’s administration (see 2101260063). Senate Commerce set a Feb. 3 vote on Raimondo (see 2101270062 and our calendar). Psaki likewise stopped short of committing to keep restrictions on Huawei and other Chinese vendors. “We will ensure that the American telecommunications networks do not use equipment from untrusted vendors, and we will work with allies to secure their telecommunications networks and make investments to expand production of telecommunications equipment by trusted U.S. and allied companies,” she said.
Katherine Tai, President Joe Biden’s nominee for U.S. trade representative, built a reputation as being tough on China’s intellectual property abuses when she was House Ways and Means lead trade counsel, said trade expert John Brew of Crowell & Moring. Her confirmation hearings in “a few weeks” likely will provide the first tangible insight into how the new administration will address existing tariffs on China and possible imposition of duties on Vietnam, he told a Sports & Fitness Industry Association webinar Tuesday. Tech groups oppose such levies.
The positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) resilience R&D plan released Wednesday morning by the White House's National Science and Technology Council has value even with a new administration, the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation blogged Thursday. Many contributors "are still important players in the national PNT space," and the plan provides "a very nice outline of the many ways we need to improve our understanding of our PNT services," plus recommendations for improvement, it said.
China will “sanction” 28 former Trump administration officials, including ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, for “their selfish political interests and prejudice and hatred against China,” said the Foreign Affairs Ministry Wednesday, hours before Joe Biden took the oath of office to become the 46th U.S. president. It also listed former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and former Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, but not former President Donald Trump. The dignitaries are “prohibited” from entering China, Hong Kong and Macao, “and companies and institutions associated with them are also restricted from doing business with China,” said the ministry. It blasted the officials for having “executed a series of crazy moves which have gravely interfered in China's internal affairs, undermined China's interests, offended the Chinese people, and seriously disrupted China-U.S. relations.” Efforts to reach the officials for comment were unsuccessful.
FTC Chairman Joe Simons will step down Jan. 29, the agency announced Tuesday (see 2011130044). Also, Commissioner Rohit Chopra will leave the commission to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Biden transition team announced Monday. Chopra previously was CFPB assistant director. Simons said “as technology and our economy continue to evolve through the digital age, the FTC’s staff work tirelessly so that consumers continue to benefit from a fair and competitive marketplace.” Other senior staff leaving: General Counsel Alden Abbott (see personals section, Jan. 14), Competition Bureau Director Ian Conner, Competition Bureau Deputy Directors Gail Levine and Daniel Francis, Consumer Protection Bureau Director Andrew Smith, Economics Bureau Director Andrew Sweeting, Office of Public Affairs Director Cathy MacFarlane and Office of Policy Planning Director Bilal Sayyed.
Nearly 200 companies, associations and individuals asked Congress and President-elect Joe Biden to let Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals participants remain in the U.S. “As our country looks to the future and we consider how to build a more prosperous, just, and fair nation, we urge both Congress and the new administration to make clear their commitment to reforming our nation’s outdated, broken immigration system,” they said Tuesday: “We especially call on Congress to come together and quickly provide a pathway to citizenship that would allow Dreamers to stay in the U.S. and become fully integrated.” Apple, Best Buy, Facebook, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Target, Verizon and Walmart signed, with BSA|The Software Alliance, the Information Technology Industry Council, the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association.
President-elect Joe Biden’s proposal for an initial COVID-19 aid package during his administration contains no money specifically set aside for broadband buildouts, though it includes connectivity assistance. He appeared to presage a larger-scale broadband funding request during a Thursday speech. Biden said his planned “second step,” which he will propose to Congress next month, will include “historic investments” in infrastructure. “It’s time to stop talking about infrastructure and finally start building it,” after President Donald Trump’s administration failed to translate interest in the issue into results over the last four years, Biden said. He intimated the proposal would mirror those he unveiled during the presidential campaign that suggested $2 trillion in infrastructure spending, including to allow for “universal” access to broadband and 5G (see 2007140065). Congress allocated almost $7 billion last month for broadband in an FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid omnibus measure (see 2012210055). Biden’s initial aid tranche urges Congress to “give Tribes the resources they need” to “expand internet access so that children can learn remotely and more families can obtain basic health care through telemedicine.” Biden also seeks $1 billion in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families funding, citing “increased TANF caseloads” amid the pandemic that include “the need for internet access for remote schooling.” The plan proposes additional funding to improve federal IT security, citing Russian government-sponsored hackers’ penetration of federal cyber defenses via vulnerabilities in SolarWinds Orion software (see 2012170050). The proposed outlays include $9 billion for technology modernization fund expansion and $690 million for the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
A judge dismissed the Center for Democracy & Technology lawsuit against President Donald Trump that alleged his social media-related executive order violated the First Amendment (see 2006020071). U.S. District Court in Washington Judge Trevor McFadden dismissed the case with prejudice in a brief Tuesday order (Pacer). The court issued a Dec. 11 order granting the defendant’s motion for dismissal and a memorandum opinion (in Pacer), finding CDT’s “claimed injury is not concrete or imminent and is thus insufficient to establish Article III standing.” CDT had 30 days to file a motion for leave to amend its complaint. “To date, no motion for leave to amend has been filed on the docket,” McFadden wrote. CDT is considering its options, a spokesperson emailed Wednesday: "It is important that organizations be able to challenge unconstitutional executive orders."