September 30 Budget Deadline
The House and Senate return to Washington next week with just six work weeks until government funding expires on September 30. In addition to government funding, the chambers must also address National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) reauthorization, Export-Import Bank reauthorization, and budget caps by the September 30 deadline. While the House successfully passed 10 of 12 spending bills last month through one standalone appropriations bill and two minibuses, negotiations in the Senate have stalled as the upper chamber struggles to reach consensus on a budget caps deal. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Shelby (R-AL) has reportedly proposed the concept of “deeming” top-line defense and nondefense spending levels once the upper chamber returns to Washington in order to advance funding negotiations absent a budget deal.
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing: “Protecting Innocence in a Digital World”
The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to convene a hearing next Tuesday, July 9 entitled “Protecting Innocence in a Digital World” to analyze existing protections for minors on the internet. The hearing comes amid efforts led in large part by Senators Hawley (R-MO) and Markey (D-MA) to bolster children’s online privacy rules. In recent months, the Senators have introduced several measures aimed at addressing growing concerns around the topic, including legislation to amend the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
Nominations and Legislation
On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee will consider the nominations of Stephen Dickson to be Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Michelle Schultz to be a Member of the Surface Transportation Board. The Committee will also consider a number of legislative measures during the executive session, including the Blockchain Promotion Act, the Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act and the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act, among other bills.
Social Media Summit
The White House will host a Social Media Summit on Thursday the address “strategic challenges of today’s online environment.” The Administration has reportedly extended invitations to Turning Point USA Executive Director Charlie Kirk as well as representatives from the Heritage Foundation and the Media Research Center.
Robocalls
The same day, the FCC will convene a summit on the industry’s implementation of SHAKEN/STIR, a caller ID authentication framework to combat illegal robocalls and caller ID spoofing. The summit will highlight progress that major providers have made toward combating robocalls and provide an opportunity to identify any challenges to implementation.
Read more in McGuireWoods Consulting’s Emerging Technologies Washington Update.