Lawmakers Anticipate Hill Telecom, Tech Policy Slowdowns Amid Coronavirus

The House will be on a planned recess Monday through March 20. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., canceled that chamber’s concurrent break so senators can vote on anticipated additional legislation “to continue combating the coronavirus and keep our economy strong.” The Senate returns Monday afternoon.

Coronavirus is inevitably “going to slow things down” on the Senate Commerce Committee, said Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss. “Business as usual may be hanging by a thread.” His own office has begun teleworking. Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., closed her Capitol Hill office after a Washington state aide tested positive for the virus and the rest of her office staff will telework. Senate Commerce Republicans “instituted an optional remote work policy to accommodate the varied personal circumstances of” staffers, a spokesperson emailed.

“There is a sentiment” among some senators the chamber should reconvene only to handle an anticipated stimulus package aimed at bolstering economic sectors affected by fallout from the outbreak “and then not gather” any longer “in this petri dish called Washington,” D.C., Wicker said. “That is not a position that has been widely adopted so far.” Wicker doesn’t “want to set any precedents” by advocating for larger-scale remote Hill activity like televoting because “it just raises too many questions” and concerns. “We’re going to be resolute and sensible,” he said. “We’re not going to panic, but we’re going to take [coronavirus] seriously.”

“We’re using up a lot of bandwidth” on addressing virus impact “and there’s no question that it’s probably going to make it harder to get other things dealt with that might otherwise be on the agenda” for Senate Commerce, said Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D. “Hopefully, we’ll get our arms around this and we can get back onto other stuff as this starts to wind down.” Senate Commerce may choose to further review telework, tele-education and telemedicine, given U.S. consumers’ increased reliance on those technologies amid the outbreak, he said.

Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., told us he has been unable to talk with Trump about his concerns about the FCC’s plan for its upcoming auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band (see 2002130053). Trump “has bigger fish to fry” now, Kennedy said.

Senate Appropriations Financial Services ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., told reporters whether his staff will continue to telework will depend on the virus' trajectory. The country could be “on the other side of this” in a month’s time, or it could also last six months or longer, he said.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of both the Commerce and Judiciary committees, told us his office is operating at full policymaking capacity. Senate Judiciary member Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said his office is also operating at full capacity in terms of policy work and attendance. “We’re doing it differently,” said Senate Commerce and Judiciary member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., whose staff is able to work remotely.

House Impacts

Coronavirus is “dictating a lot of what” the House Commerce Committee will be able to do in the weeks and months ahead, said House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa. That's causing uncertainty about when House Commerce will mark up a group of 11 spectrum, media diversity and public safety communications bills the subcommittee advanced last week (see 2003100067). “We’ll just have to play by ear” when even noncontroversial bills like the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act (HR-451) and Expanding Broadcast Ownership Opportunities Act (HR-3957) come up for a committee vote, he said.

Doyle’s office has discussed the possibility of work stoppages. He said there’s “no way to anticipate it. It’s either going to happen or not happen, so all you can do is plan for it.” Employees will work remotely if necessary, he said.

“We’ll have to see how” much the outbreak impacts House Commerce’s ability to move forward on policymaking, though the spate of event cancellations and emergency declarations is a telling indicator, said ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore. “We can always talk with each other by phone” and “most of this gets negotiated via small meetings that could still be done by conference call” or online.

It might be good to “cool down” some Hill activity amid the outbreak, said House Communications member Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif.: There’s a lot of activity, and nobody wants to anticipate a work stoppage. But “I don’t know how bad things are going to get,” he said. “We’re going to avoid public gatherings back home.” McNerney’s office canceled town halls in his district and implemented a no-handshake policy.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said his office is also avoiding handshakes and practicing basic social distancing. That's advocated by many experts, including those we interviewed for previous reports. During the outbreak, this publication is putting such articles in front of its pay wall. See here.

American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Norman Ornstein, who helped create the Continuity of Government Commission after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, believes Congress hasn’t done nearly enough to prepare to continue to operate if the outbreak intensifies and lawmakers can't meet on the Hill because of potential widespread quarantines. "Right now there is no way for them to be able to meet” remotely “and do the kinds of things they would need to do as a legislative body,” Ornstein said. That’s a “reflection of 20 years of neglect” by Congress to learn lessons from 9/11.

Ornstein wants lawmakers to prepare for the creation of a "virtual Congress" for use if the outbreak crisis escalates. It “ought to not be that difficult” for Congress to pass a law authorizing televoting or other remote meeting technologies for official use, he said. U.S. tech companies are well equipped to provide “the most sophisticated and secure equipment possible to all members” and at least some of their key staff. “Avoiding gatherings of people in relatively close proximity is a sensible thing," Ornstein said.

It’s possible organizers of major events will continue to cancel (see 2003130075) plans into summer, but the trajectory of this unprecedented outbreak isn’t fully understood yet, said Georgetown University Graduate Program in Global Infectious Disease Director Ellen Carlin. Organizers with events in March and April have more straightforward decisions, but ones in late spring or the early summer are in limbo. What could turn the tide is how fast officials can develop a vaccine and how much responsibility individuals take for their hygiene and social distancing, Carlin said.