The Senate’s most-likely-to-succeed tech antitrust bill, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, won’t get a vote before the Senate heads into August recess, the bill’s leading Democratic sponsor, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, said Saturday.
The big picture: Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and other supporters have said a summer vote on the bill was essential, because passing bipartisan legislation gets harder as midterm elections approach. Now they’ll have to try to push their proposal forward in the fall.
Driving the news: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) previously told Klobuchar he aimed to hold a floor vote for her bill this summer.
- But other Senate priorities like gun control, climate, energy and infrastructure funding and the Chips and Science Act have taken up the limited floor time.
Why it matters: The bill would bar Big Tech companies from prioritizing their own services over those of rivals.
- Firms like Apple, Google, Meta and Amazon have lobbied hard against the bill, saying it would ruin customers’ favorite security and convenience features.
- The bill’s supporters say it would loosen the grip of the largest tech companies’ control of the digital ecosystem and enhance competition.
What they’re saying: During a Saturday appearance on Symone Sanders’ MSNBC show, Klobuchar said that Thursday she and Schumer “talked about having this vote in the fall. We’re not going to be able to do it this week, obviously, with the major vote we’re having on the Inflation Reduction Act.“
