Google, Amazon, Apple could see antitrust bills put on hold if Jim Jordan is House speaker

If
Republican
Rep.

Jim
Jordan
of
Ohio
is
elected
the

speaker
of
the
House
Tuesday,
tech
giants
like


Google,


Apple,


and
Amazon
could
see
the
push
to
pass
major
tech
antitrust
legislation
put
on
hold
during
his
speakership,
political
strategists
and
industry
lobbyists
told
CNBC.

“If
Jim
Jordan
becomes
Speaker,
it
is
very
unlikely
that
Congress
will
do
anything
on
big
tech
in
the
near
future,”
said
Jon
Schweppe,
a
policy
director
at
the
conservative
American
Principles
Project.

Jordan
won
the
GOP
speaker
nomination
in
a
closed
door
vote
of
the
Republican
conference
last
Friday.
But
he
faced
a
tricky
path
to
assembling
the
217
votes
needed
to
win
the
gavel
in
a
closely
divided
chamber.
Now,
Republicans
plan
to
hold
a
full
floor
vote
Tuesday
at
noon
on
Jordan’s
speakership.

As
Jordan’s
internal
campaign
gained
momentum
on
Monday,
Washington’s
thousands
of
lobbyists
raced
to
determine
how
a
Jordan
speakership
might
impact
their
clients’
bottom
lines.

A
Jordan
speakership
“will
make
it
nearly
impossible
to
move
any
sensible
bipartisan
legislation
to
curb
big
tech’s
abuses
of
power,”
said
a
veteran
tech
lobbyist
who
requested
anonymity
because
he
was
not
authorized
to
speak
publicly.
“Instead,
you’ll
see
more
performative
anger
over
petty
issues,
designed
to
redirect
attention
away
from
the
things
that
could
actually
hold
big
tech
accountable,”
said
the
lobbyist.

As
chairman
of
the
powerful
House
Judiciary
Committee,
Jordan
has
accused
tech
companies
of
censoring
conservatives
on
their
platforms.
But
he
has
also
criticized
bipartisan
efforts
to
use

antitrust
legislation
to
break
up
those
same
corporations.

For
big
tech
companies,
the
prospect
of
bipartisan
antitrust
legislation
passing
in
Congress
would
amount
to
a
far
more
urgent
threat
to
their
businesses
than
a
partisan
content
moderation
bill.

Press
representatives
at
Amazon,
Apple,
and
Meta
did
not
return
requests
for
comment
before
publication.
A
Google
spokesman
declined
to
comment.

A
Jordan
speakership
could
amount
to
a
stroke
of
good
fortune
for
America’s
tech
giants,
long
under
scrutiny
from
Congress
and
regulators
over
whether
their
vast
corporate
empires
are
illegal
monopolies.

“When
it
comes
to
tech,
Jordan
has
been
primarily
focused
on
speech
and
censorship
issues,
but
he’s
aimed
most
of
his
ire
at
the
Biden
administration’s
pressure
on
companies
–
not
the
companies
themselves,”
said
Adam
Kovacevich,
the
CEO
of
the
pro-tech
lobbying
group
Chamber
of
Progress.

A
spokesman
for
Jordan
disagreed
with
that
assessment,
noting
the

subpoenas
Jordan
has
issued
to
Alphabet
(the
parent
company
of
Google),
Amazon,
Apple,


Meta,
and


Microsoft,
accusing
them
of
suppressing
free
speech.

“Chairman
Jordan
has
issued
over
20
subpoenas
in
his
big
tech
investigation
this
Congress,
interviewed
over
20
current
and
former
big
tech
employees,
held
Mark
Zuckerberg
accountable,
and
introduced
legislation
to
stop
big
tech’s
censorship
of
speech.
His
actions
speak
for
themselves,”
Russell
Dye,
communications
director
for
the
House
Judiciary
Committee,
said
Monday.

Jordan’s
approach
to
big
tech
antitrust
in
Congress
could
also
help
to
explain
why
lobbyists
and
PACs
for
major
tech
companies
have
contributed
so
regularly
to
his
reelection
campaigns.

Google’s
PAC
alone
has
given
over
$35,000
since
2012
to
help
fund
Jordan’s
successful
campaigns
for
reelection.

Since
2020,
Jordan’s
campaign
and
affiliated
political
action
committees
have
received
over
$15,000
from
either
PACs
or
individual
lobbyists
for
Google,
Amazon,
Apple,
Microsoft,
and
Facebook
parent
company
Meta,
according
to
lobbying
contribution
reports
filed
to
Congress.

Kovacevich,
of
the
Chamber
of
Progress,
personally
donated

$1,000
to
Jordan’s
campaign
in
2018,
while
he
was
working
as
a
lobbyist
for
Google.

Not
everyone
in
the
Republican
political
ecosystem
likes
the
idea
of
Jordan
wielding
the
kind
of
power
over
tech
legislation
that
he
(or
anyone
else)
would
as
House
speaker.

“For
years,
Jordan
has
stymied
conservatives’
efforts
to
rein
in
the
tech
companies,”
said
Schweppe,
of
the
conservative
American
Principles
Project.

His
critique
underscores
deep
divisions
between
Republicans
over
how
Congress
should
approach
tech
regulation.

“Tech
is
a
fissure
in
the
GOP
caucus,
and
Jordan
is
quite
friendly
to
firms
like
Google
and
Apple
even
as
some
of
his
close
allies
are
not,”
said
Matt
Stoller,
director
of
research
at
the
progressive
nonprofit
American
Economic
Liberties
Project.

“I
guess
it
depends
on
how
Jordan
sees
his
role
as
Speaker,”
said
Stoller.
“Is
he
building
a
consensus,
or
is
he
trying
to
run
his
own
policy
preferences?”