Doyle Eyes Final Priorities; Democrats Consider His Subpanel Successor

There’s just under “14 months left on my term, so it’s not like I’m leaving tomorrow,” Doyle said in an interview before the chamber left for a weeklong recess that ends Monday. Doyle cited the now-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act as an immediate priority because HR-3684 includes $65 billion for broadband. President Joe Biden plans to sign HR-3684 into law Monday (see 2111100081). Doyle is “holding out hope that we can reach some kind of agreement” with the Senate on the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation bill (HR-5376) that “preserves” funding for next-generation 911 tech upgrades, the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund and other telecom programs (see 2110280074) amid wrangling over the measure’s overall price tag.

Doyle hopes to swiftly advance the Spectrum Coordination Act (HR-2501), which House Communications cleared earlier this month (see 2111030064), and move soon on the Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-5378), he said. HR-2501 would require the FCC and NTIA to update by the end of 2022 their memorandum of understanding for handling spectrum allocations. HR-5378 would authorize an FCC auction of at least 200 MHz on the 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2109290071).

The House Commerce Committee “would certainly like to move forward” on the Justice Against Malicious Algorithms Act (HR-5596) that panel Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., bowed last month with Doyle and Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. (see 2110140065), Doyle said. HR-5596 would revoke Communications Decency Act Section 230 immunity when a social media platform “knowingly or recklessly uses an algorithm or other technology to recommend content that materially contributes to physical or severe” emotional injury. “I’d like to see that become law,” especially in the wake of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s recent testimony to the Senate Commerce Committee (see 2110050062), Doyle said.

Net Neutrality

Net neutrality is likely to remain “a tough issue” through this Congress, Doyle said. The House again “probably can pass” a yet-to-be-refiled version of his Save the Internet Act or similar legislation to bring back the FCC’s rescinded 2015 rules even with a slender Democratic majority in the chamber, but “the key has always been how do you get the votes you need in the Senate?” Backers of a return to the 2015 rules and reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service face “the reality of a 50-50 Senate” and there’s no clear “information that the Senate is going to pass” such a bill even if one clears the House, he said.

Net neutrality is still “an issue that we need to draw attention to” and it’s certainly something the FCC can address if the Senate confirms Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and commission nominee Gigi Sohn, which would set up a 3-2 Democratic majority at the agency, Doyle said. Senate Commerce plans a Wednesday confirmation hearing for Rosenworcel and is believed to be eyeing a Dec. 1 panel for Sohn (see 2111120029). “I know people don’t like this idea that” the FCC’s net neutrality role “ping pongs back and forth” depending on what party controls the White House, but “sometimes it’s the only option you have left” when Congress doesn't have a sufficient majority to pass legislation to address the issue, Doyle said.

Democrats’ slender House majority has made Communications’ deliberations more partisan and fractious this year than it was in the 116th Congress, Doyle said. “There’s so much at stake” for both parties given the narrow margins, so that shift in atmosphere isn’t surprising, he said. Doyle cited the sometimes-rancorous debate during House Commerce’s September markup of its portion of HR-5376 (see 2109140063). House Commerce Republicans “are attacking us where they can and they’re not really thinking much about cooperation because I don’t think they want to give [the Democrats] any wins,” Doyle said. “That’s just the way it is.”

House Communications has “always had a reputation for working across the aisle” to reach a consensus on “complicated pieces of legislation,” including during Doyle’s chairmanship, said House Communications ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio. “We sat down and talked” when Latta took over the lead GOP seat in 2019 and “have had conversations since then” in an aim to find consensus wherever possible. He noted similar bipartisan collaboration with Butterfield, Clarke and Matsui. Latta is hoping “in the next Congress” the GOP will have a House majority and would like to wield the Communications gavel if lead Commerce Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington chooses to keep him in that slot.

Succession

Doyle isn’t weighing in publicly on the Democrats’ nascent derby to pick his Communications lead successor. “It’s up to” House Commerce Democrats to decide after the 2022 election and “I’m happy to let that proceed” because “it’s not my job to anoint my successor.”

Butterfield, Clarke and Matsui haven’t made final decisions on whether they will pursue the House Communications leadership. All three have been active participants in telecom policy debates this Congress.

Butterfield has “an interest in serving” and noted he would be among the House Commerce members with first right of refusal to take it based on seniority. “I’m going to have to talk to my colleagues because some of the existing chairs may want to move to another” leadership role, he said. Butterfield has been a major backer of media diversity legislation, including the Expanding Broadcast Opportunities Act (HR-4871) to restore the minority broadcaster ownership tax certificate program (see 2109080046). House Communications advanced his Data Mapping to Save Moms’ Lives Act (HR-1218) earlier this month.

“I’ve been giving some thought” to seeking the top Communications Democratic seat but would have to give up the lead Democratic seat on the House Homeland Security Cybersecurity Subcommittee to take it, Clarke said: “I’m still weighing that” dilemma. She took over the Cybersecurity chair at the beginning of this year from Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill. Clarke was House Commerce vice chair during the last Congress. She has been active on digital equity and media diversity, leading the recent Enhancing Diversity and Inclusion by Verifying and Ensuring the Reporting required by Statute Is Transpiring and Yielding Data Act (HR-5836).

Doyle has been “a fabulous” chairman and “he’s got a lot of time to finish off” his goals for House Communications before this Congress ends, Matsui told us. “I’m looking at” whether to seek the leadership role because “I’m very interested in” the policy issues within the subcommittee’s jurisdiction. “These are issues that affect almost every part of our lives,” she said. Matsui has been Communications vice chair since Democrats regained the majority in 2019. She’s Congressional Spectrum Caucus co-chair and frequently is a lead sponsor of spectrum measures.

House Democrats determine almost all lead subcommittee slots by asking all members if they want the role, with those with the highest committee seniority getting first preference, said Mark Harkins, Georgetown University Government Affairs Institute senior fellow. “Sometimes people will pass because they will have a senior position on another committee” or hold a leadership spot on that committee that they would prefer to keep. “It's not a popularity contest,” he said. “It is purely about seniority."

Butterfield has the highest seniority on House Commerce of the three known potential top-spot contenders. The four other panel Democrats besides Doyle who are ahead of him in seniority already hold subcommittee leadership seats, though Harkins cautioned none of them is guaranteed to keep the seat next Congress. Butterfield has been on Commerce since January 2007. Matsui joined the panel in June 2008, while Clarke signed on in January 2015.

The top Democratic seat on a House subcommittee could appear less attractive in the next Congress if the party loses its majority in the 2022 elections, but it’s still “better to have something than nothing,” Harkins said. The leadership seat would still “give you at least one staff slot, as well as a staff to assist you, in matters dealing with committee, and you become essentially the spokesperson for the party on that subcommittee.” The ranking member doesn't “get to be the one who decides what the hearings are going to be,” but “you are the one who's trying to do the messaging” on specific policy issues, he said.