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July 29, 2024
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THE TOP
Senate pushes on child online safety bill as Dems head to Houston
Happy Monday morning.
The Senate is in this week, the House is out. President Joe Biden heads to Texas today with stops in Austin and Houston, where he will pay respects to the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas). Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Atlanta on Tuesday and then in Houston on Thursday for Jackson Lee’s funeral. Former President Donald Trump will hold a rally in Harrisburg, Pa., on Wednesday.
We’re going to focus on the Senate, which is on track to pass a major social media safety and privacy package in the final few days before senators leave for the August recess.
But first, let’s talk about the funeral for Jackson Lee, who died on July 19. The 74-year-old Jackson Lee recently disclosed she was being treated for pancreatic cancer.
An unforgettable figure on Capitol Hill, Jackson Lee served in Congress for 29 years. She served on the Judiciary, Budget and Homeland Security committees. Jackson Lee ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Houston last year. Yet she still was able to win the 18th District’s Democratic primary in March and was on track for reelection in November.
The memorial services for Jackson Lee this Thursday in Houston will be a major event.
Harris is giving a eulogy, per her office. Former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi will all be in attendance. CBC Chair Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) is expected to attend as well.
A military aircraft will leave from D.C. to ferry lawmakers to the funeral, although it’s unclear how many members will be traveling from Washington given the House is in recess.
Jackson Lee will lie in state in Houston City Hall for 10 hours Monday, the AP reported.
Harris and Jackson Lee were both members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s first Black collegiate sorority. It has more than 360,000 members in 12 countries.
Back to the Senate: If you’ve followed Big Tech closely on the Hill, you know that Congress has struggled for years to pass legislation to regulate social media companies.
But this week, the Senate is taking a major step in that direction. While it’s unclear what the House will do, the Senate will vote on — and overwhelmingly pass — a pair of long-stalled bills Tuesday afternoon aimed at safeguarding children on social media platforms, as well as enhancing privacy protections.
The package includes the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). It’s being hailed as a first-of-its-kind effort to hold Big Tech companies accountable for the harms their platforms can inflict on minors. The package represents a major overhaul of how the federal government regulates platforms that millions of Americans use daily.
Under KOSA, social media platforms would be required to take steps to shield underage users from potentially harmful content. This includes limiting the platforms’ most addictive features. COPPA would effectively bar those companies from passing along minors’ personal data that would have otherwise been used for targeted advertising.
With the House already out until September, it’ll be a while before the measure could possibly reach Biden’s desk. Speaker Mike Johnson told us last week that he’d “like to get it done,” but he didn’t make any commitments. Yet a big bipartisan win in the Senate would put a lot of pressure on the House to act.
Supporters of the package could face opposition from hardline conservatives and progressives concerned about civil liberty issues.
In the Senate, Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have voiced objections to KOSA in particular on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment and gives too much power to the executive branch to determine which types of content should be censored.
Paul’s and Wyden’s objections aren’t likely to have a big impact on the vote margin in the Senate Tuesday afternoon. However, their views are likely shared by far more House members, which would make passage more complicated.
There could be an effort by Big Tech companies to water down or even block this legislation, although there are huge political sensitivities around the issue, of course.
We’ll note that a sweeping bipartisan data privacy bill was derailed in the House Energy and Commerce Committee last month. Big Tech opposition has also quashed antitrust legislation in the House and Senate in the past. Congress, though, overwhelmingly passed a forced divestiture bill aimed at social media giant TikTok back in April.
One more thing: The Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees will hold a joint hearing tomorrow morning on the assassination attempt against Trump.
This is the first public Senate hearing on the matter, coming a week after now-former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was sharply criticized by both parties for her less-than-forthcoming testimony before the House Oversight Committee. Cheatle resigned the following day.
The joint Judiciary-HSGAC hearing in the Senate will feature testimony from Ronald Rowe Jr., the acting Secret Service director, and Paul Abbate, the deputy FBI director.
— Andrew Desiderio, John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman
TODAY: Join us in Baltimore or on the livestream at 10:45 a.m. ET for a conversation with Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore. Punchbowl News Founders Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman will sit down with Moore to discuss the small business ecosystem in Maryland and the state’s economic future. RSVP here!
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What we’re watching
Tuesday: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has a hearing with Kurt Campbell, the deputy secretary of State, on strategic competition with China.
Senate Judiciary and Senate Homeland Security are holding a joint hearing on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Ronald Rowe Jr., the acting director of the Secret Service, and Paul Abbate, the deputy director of the FBI, will testify.
Thursday: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will have a hearing on competing for influence around the globe. Undersecretary of State Elizabeth Allen will testify.
The Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up the FY2025 Defense, Energy and Water, Labor-HHS, Financial Services-General Government and Homeland Security bills.
— Jake Sherman
September presidential debate will likely be canceled, K Street leaders say
Almost two-thirds of K Street leaders predict the second presidential debate scheduled for September will be scrapped, according to the latest results from our survey, The Canvass.
It’s worth noting that the poll was conducted in the immediate days and weeks after the disastrous June 27 debate where President Joe Biden struggled to articulate himself while former President Donald Trump told a string of falsehoods.
GOP respondents were slightly more doubtful about another debate happening, with 67% of them saying it will be nixed. Among Democratic respondents, 54% think the debate will be canceled.
Another important caveat: The poll was conducted prior to Biden dropping out of the race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place on the Democratic ticket. Biden ended his reelection bid on July 21 amid mounting calls to step aside due to concerns about his mental acuity and ability to serve another term.
Shortly after Biden withdrew from the race, Trump called for the second debate — previously scheduled for Sept. 10 on ABC News — to be hosted by Fox News. The Trump campaign is also refusing to confirm a second debate until the Democratic Party officially nominates a candidate.
Harris accused Trump of “backpedaling” on the second debate and said she was ready and willing to debate the former president on Sept. 10 as previously planned. Fox News on Wednesday invited Harris and Trump for a Sept. 17 debate after Trump’s calls to switch to the GOP-friendly network. Harris hasn’t responded yet to that offer.
The Canvass K Street was conducted July 8-22 in partnership with independent public affairs firm LSG.
Want to take part in The Canvass? Our survey provides anonymous monthly insights from top Capitol Hill staffers and K Street leaders on key issues Washington is dealing with. Sign up here if you work on K Street. Click here to sign up if you’re a senior congressional staffer.
— Donna Baeck
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THE MONEY GAME
They’re still here!
The House is out. But fear not. There are plenty of opportunities to spend money in order to curry favor with lawmakers.
Monday: Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) has a fundraiser at The Roosevelt Group. This will cost you between $500 and $5,000. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) has a lunch. Prefer something more casual? You can attend Cafe with Carson with Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) at 3 p.m. CBC Chair Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) has a reception on 12th Street between G and H Streets in Northwest D.C.
Would you rather jam to 90s bands with Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.)? Who wouldn’t?! Sherman is hosting a fundraiser at the Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins show at Nats Park. This will cost you $2,500.
Tuesday: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is appearing at a Korean barbecue fundraiser at 5:30 p.m.
— Jake Sherman
THE CAMPAIGN
Some news here: Former President Donald Trump is hosting a tele-town rally for Arizona Senate GOP candidate Kari Lake tonight at 8 p.m. Lake is the heavy favorite to win the Republican primary on July 30. Arizona will be one of the marquee Senate races this fall.
New Hogan ad: Former Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan is running a digital ad focused on former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). The spot features McCain’s farewell address to the Senate and calls on Maryland voters to put country over party when considering whether to vote for Hogan.
Hogan is challenging Democrat Angela Alsobrooks to succeed Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) this November.
Inside New York Democrats’ plan: Here’s a new memo from the New York Democrats’ Coordinated Campaign spelling out how the party is planning on flipping toss-up seats in the Empire State. Led by Gov. Kathy Hochul, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and state party chair Jay Jacobs, New York Democrats are dumping over $5 million into key House races. The effort aims to have over 80 staff hired in the next two weeks and to open 35 field offices.
Veep watch: What’s the best way to know you are a potential vice presidential candidate? If campaign ads are running in your state years away from your reelection. The Commonwealth Foundation is running an ad saying Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is a failure. The spot ends by saying Shapiro is “all talk, no results.”
Fact check: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) says in a new spot that he loves when people stop him in the supermarket and bend his ear on the issues that matter to them.
— Jake Sherman, Melanie Zanona and Max Cohen
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