The most notable pockets of resistance during Wednesday’s and Thursday’s 16-plus-hour markup came from lawmakers from California, the home base of Google, Facebook and Apple.
Still, the committee pressed on into the night and early Thursday, in a debate that included side arguments about Chinese oppression, “cancel culture,” Dr.
The series of votes came just 12 days after the panel’s Democratic leaders announced five bills that are aimed squarely at just a handful of the largest tech titans: Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon.
Thursday, is aimed at preventing the kinds of deals in which Facebook bought the popular photo-sharing app Instagram and Google acquired the wearables company Fitbit.
Bills still on the early Thursday agenda include a measure that would allow the Justice Department or the Federal Trade Commission to sue to break up the biggest tech platforms, and legislation to bar platforms such as Apple and Amazon from giving their own products unfair advantages over rivals.
One recurring theme during the hours of debate was uncertainty over whether the package’s provisions would affect Microsoft, which has not been a focus of the committee’s antitrust investigations but ranks second behind Apple in the list of the world’s most valuable companies.
Rep.
The bills’ supporters include both liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, united in seeking to rein in companies they accuse of misusing their vast power.
“I know this is a moment where there’s been an effort to have bipartisan support,” Rep.
The bills faced a stream of amendments throughout the day, and key players like Pelosi and President Joe Biden have yet to weigh in publicly on the antitrust package — nor has Trump, who still wields significant influence over congressional Republicans.
Jim Jordan, Judiciary’s top Republican, gave a short preview before the markup began Wednesday, saying the GOP is working on bills to repeal online companies’ liability protections, allow users to sue over alleged censorship and speed up the legal process to break up the tech giants under antitrust law.
Ultimately, the most serious threat to the bills’ fate will probably come from within the Democratic caucus.
But an increasing number of moderate Democrats, including several of the committee’s members from California, have expressed concerns that the legislation goes too far.
Ken Buck , the ranking member of the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, is a co-sponsor of all of the bills on Wednesday’s agenda — but he’s facing loud opposition from Jordan, the committee’s top Republican.
Another less controversial measure, which would bar companies from seeking to relocate antitrust suits brought by state attorneys general, also generated a fair share of debate and opposition from California lawmakers, including Lofgren and Issa.
Massie’s document appeared to be the same draft of a bill that POLITICO had published in full for its subscribers on June 9, except with a watermark that read “Confidential — Microsoft” on each page.
Cicilline said the bills apply to companies that meet a specific set of criteria: They must have a market capitalization of $600 billion or more, have 50 million U.S.