Senate Democrats Shake Up Leadership for Judiciary, Intel, Homeland Security and Appropriations

McCaskill told us that the PSI hearing she hoped to hold this lame-duck session -- dealing with retransmission consent and programming costs (see 1609070045 and 1606230061) -- is likely off the table. This would have been a follow-up hearing to the June hearing and report she released with PSI Chairman Rob Portman, R-Ohio. Her spokespeople didn’t comment on whether any possible final report on the investigation is still likely. McCaskill staffers were believed at the end of the summer to be reaching out to industry officials about this possible hearing (see 1608230062).

“I was hoping,” McCaskill said in an interview Wednesday. “But I don’t know that Sen. Portman is going to have time in his schedule for it. I just think he’s got other things he thinks are more important.”

McCaskill wasn’t sure whether she would be able to pursue these priorities in the next Congress in her new role. “The subcommittee assignments haven’t been set yet, so we’ll have to see after that,” she told us. The pay-TV scrutiny was seen as particular to McCaskill and a priority that her office was especially aggressive about. She is also a Commerce Committee member and had first tried to hold a hearing on such issues when she was ranking member of Commerce’s Consumer Protection Subcommittee in late 2014. “I’m thrilled to have a bigger platform and stronger tools to fight for accountability and boost the safety and security of our communities,” she said in a statement of her new full committee role. She also had been the ranking member on the Aging Committee and is being replaced next Congress by Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.

New Democrats also will sit atop the Senate Appropriations, Judiciary and Intelligence committees in addition to Homeland Security. The Republican chairmen -- Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., respectively -- aren't expected to change for these committees.

Judiciary Changes

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., will leave his role as leading Democrat on Judiciary to replace retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., on Appropriations.

Mikulski was long seen as sympathetic to broadcaster interests and a 2015 appropriations rider grandfathering broadcaster joint sales agreements passed into law under her hand. Leahy mentioned the importance of taking the role overseeing government funding and his ongoing focus on “rebuilding our country's infrastructure,” a priority for President-elect Donald Trump. “And as the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will continue to offer a strong and outspoken voice in defending our Constitution, protecting and promoting human and civil rights, defending Americans’ privacy, and fighting for judicial independence,” he said. In his Judiciary role, Leahy was seen as progressive on telecom issues and strongly backed the FCC net neutrality order, holding hearings on the topic when he was chair. He also sometimes exerted influence on antitrust, pushing to hold a hearing on the unsuccessful Comcast buy of Time Warner Cable at the full committee level. This Congress, Leahy also had begun copyright review work with Grassley, developing a draft set of principles on Copyright Office modernization this summer (see 1607150022).

In Leahy’s stead on Judiciary will now sit Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who will leave her ranking spot on the Intelligence Committee. Feinstein, a Judiciary member now, raised copyright concerns this fall regarding the FCC set-top box draft order (see 1609220041).

Senate Democratic backing still will be necessary despite excitement over unified GOP government, said Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. Republicans should “not overpromise,” Thune told reporters Wednesday. “It always takes 60 votes in the Senate. There’s always some things you can do through budget reconciliation but there are a lot of things that you can’t. So any consequential legislation is probably going to have to have some Democrat buy-in,” he said. “Remember that it’s not easy to get anything around here, so we want to make sure we’re working at expectations of a realistic level of what’s doable and what’s achievable. I think we’ll know more about that when we have an opportunity to figure out exactly what the new administration wants to do, where they want to go and when they want to do it.”

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., will remain the lead Democrat atop Senate Commerce, serving with Thune, Democrats also announced. As expected (see 1504010040), Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., long allied with broadcaster interests, is now the minority leader, replacing retiring Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. The leadership team for Senate Republicans is largely unchanged, that caucus said Wednesday. Thune and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., are two Commerce members who are members of it, and Gardner, another Commerce member, will be National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman. It’s possible that committee makeup may change, but industry lobbyists expect any shift in ratios may be minor (see 1611150038).

Warner Taking Intel

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is assuming the top Democratic spot on Intelligence. Warner, a former telecom executive, is seen as especially familiar with tech issues and an active voice on cybersecurity. He and Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., formed the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus in June. “With a new administration starting to assemble its national security team, I look forward to fulfilling the Committee’s primary responsibility to provide vigorous and bipartisan oversight,” Warner said. This past Congress, Feinstein had used her perch on Intelligence to try to craft legislation addressing encryption policy with Burr. Warner’s approach was to push for the creation of a National Commission on Security and Technology Challenges (NCSTC) to tackle encryption questions.

Warner's going to Senate Intelligence ranking member “is a good move” from a cybersecurity policy perspective, said Internet Security Alliance President Larry Clinton in an interview. “It's a disappointment to have” Feinstein go to Senate Judiciary, but Warner “is obviously one of the most knowledgeable people about technology in the entire Congress. Two cybersecurity lobbyists noted Warner's co-chairmanship of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, which formed in June (see 1606140048), as a sign that he will continue to make cybersecurity a top Senate Intelligence priority.

Warner “has expressed a very balanced view of cybersecurity issues,” including the encryption stance he took in working with House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on the proposed Digital Security Commission Act, Clinton said. HR-4651/S-2604 would form NCSTC (see 1606290069). Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Vice President Daniel Castro noted encouraging signs in Warner's past work on internet governance issues. Warner's office has "shown an ability to get into technical detail on those issues and has looked out for broader consumer interests in that space," Castro said.