A number one Republican supporter of a blocked antitrust bill has demanded that President Joe Biden take an “energetic role” in ending nearly a yr of turmoil over bipartisan laws cracking down on Big Tech.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who co-sponsored the Web Innovation and Alternative Act with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), wants Biden to place pressure on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to incorporate elements of their antitrust bill in the rollup package, which must pass by the tip of the yr.
“If the president desires to get anything done on that front, the White House needs to start out playing an energetic role in pushing Leader Schumer and the Democratic caucus to place this bill to a vote before the tip of the yr,” Grassley told The Post.
Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly drafted a framework for the budget bill on Wednesday – avoiding a government shutdown. Nonetheless, details have yet to be finalized ahead of this week’s final vote.
“Dream. Grassley should pick up the phone and tell Mitch McConnell every part The Post says,” Angelo Roefaro, Schumer’s spokesman, told The Post.
![Amy Klobuchar](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/facebook-news-765.jpg?w=1024)
The antitrust bill was passed by the House of Representatives in February but stalled in the Senate, despite Schumer’s continued promise to place it to a vote. This could prevent platforms from “preferring” their content. For instance, Amazon would not give you the option to advertise its own goods to third-party sellers on its e-commerce site.
The bill met with great opposition from Big Tech lobbyists with deep pockets. Amazon, Apple, Meta and Google combined spent greater than $35 million in the primary half of the yr alone on lobbying efforts, Bloomberg reported.
Corporations also flooded Beltway’s airwaves with advertisements defying antitrust laws and purchased up promoting space in influential newsletters equivalent to the Politico Playbook.
“Other than all of the paid shillings working for Big Tech, Schumer is the last guy in Washington to oppose this bill,” said Luther Lowe, senior vice chairman of public policy at Yelp.
Supporters of the antitrust bill say the rollup package, which is able to provide government funding for next yr, is the right tool to interrupt the impasse.
![Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that Congress will vote on the government funding bill for the next seven days this week.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/chuck-schumer-221212-50.jpg?w=1024)
Insiders add that lawmakers who support antitrust laws are under heavy pressure to include key provisions from other proposed bills geared toward quashing Big Tech.
“Even individuals who complain about where the commas are in the omnibus aren’t against the laws that governs tech corporations,” he told The Post. “Equalizing the playing field in the Big Tech space shouldn’t be very controversial.”
It isn’t just Big Tech money pushing against antitrust laws. At the least 17 lawmakers tasked with oversight of Meta, Amazon, Google and Apple have children who work at – or recently worked for – these corporations, Politico reports.
The Post reported that US Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren — a Democrat who’s one among the staunchest opponents of the antitrust laws currently being passed through Congress that focus on Big Tech — has a daughter who works on Google’s legal team.
The Post also reported that each of Schumer’s daughters are on the payroll of Big Tech corporations. Jessica Schumer is a registered lobbyist with Amazon, in keeping with Latest York State records. Alison Schumer works at Facebook as a product marketing manager.
People near Schumer say he held off on voting on the innovation bill as he focused on other priorities, equivalent to codifying gay marriage and passing the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.
But many Republicans were frustrated by Schumer’s failure to fight Big Tech.
“Dream. Schumer has been declaring antitrust reform for over a yr,” Garrett Ventry, former chief of staff to Congressman Ken Buck (R-Colo.), told The Post.
“If President Biden really wants antitrust reform, he’ll push Schumer so as to add it to the omnibus,” added Ventry.