MT EXCLUSIVE: CHAMBER PLANS FTC FOIA SUIT — The nation's largest business lobby is planning to sue the FTC in mid-March if the agency rejects its public records appeal for documents about the agency's inner workings, the Chamber of Commerce told Leah. "Sunshine is the best disinfectant and Congress enacted FOIA to prohibit agencies like the FTC from operating in the shadows," the group said, in appeals filed with the FTC's general counsel this month and provided to POLITICO. "The FTC's refusal thus far to comply with that vital transparency statute does a disservice to the public and the rule of law." If the FTC's general counsel denies its appeals, the Chamber will likely quickly file suit, Daryl Joseffer, chief counsel for the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, told Leah. State of play: The Chamber, which counts Google, Facebook and Amazon among its members, accused the FTC in November of "waging a war against American business" and has filed a barrage of Freedom of Information Act requests, seeking information on policy changes and potential political interference by the White House. The agency has denied most of the requests, saying they were "unduly burdensome," as MT reported. That led the business lobby to resubmit three more tailored FOIA requests; the agency again denied those earlier this month. The Chamber then filed three administrative appeals to the FTC's general counsel. The FTC has 20 working days to respond to the internal appeals, though it can give itself a 10-day extension. HOUSE DEBUTS USICA COMPANION BILL: On Tuesday evening, House Democrats unveiled the America COMPETES Act. It's the companion legislation to the Senate's U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, the sprawling package meant to strengthen America's foreign policy and shore up its slipping R&D ecosystem in face of a rising China. The bill includes $52 billion in subsidies for the semiconductor industry (whose representatives are likely relieved after months of foot-dragging in the House). But partisan sniping could derail expected negotiations on the broader bill. — Revitalizing U.S. research: After the Senate passed USICA in June, leaders on the House Science Committee subsequently busied themselves with piecemeal legislation to strengthen federal research efforts. The resulting bills, including those to boost the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy's Office of Science, passed the House in late June. Those provisions are now also present in the America COMPETES Act. — Chip subsidies go bicameral: The billions in semiconductor subsidies included in the House bill are nearly identical to the tranche of chip funding passed by the Senate as part of USICA, and the first time House leadership has revealed its own plans to revitalize domestic chip production. The White House and lawmakers in both parties have touted semiconductor subsidies as a way to counter the global chip shortage and undercut Chinese efforts to gain ground in the crucial market. The Semiconductor Industry Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment. — Contentious conference incoming: Though the two chambers appear to agree on chip subsidies, the relevant committees will still need to iron out big differences between the bills if and when America COMPETES passes the House. Senate and House lawmakers are especially divided over the size and structure of a new tech directorate at NSF and provisions cracking down on collaborations between U.S. and Chinese researchers, with the Senate in both cases favoring a more aggressive approach. Rep. Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) , the ranking Republican on the House Science Committee, has accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of ignoring the committee's bipartisan work and packing the legislation with "poison pills." Major disagreements on trade policy could also undercut bipartisan support for the legislation, Gavin Bade reports for Pros. CIVIL LIBERTIES FIGHT BREWING — In the wake of a series of reports about federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies buying Americans' location information from data brokers, a large bipartisan group of lawmakers last year introduced the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, S. 1265 (117) — but there's been no action on the legislation so far. Now the bill's backers are pushing for hearings and movement. A group of almost 50 civil liberties and privacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, is calling for hearings on the legislation in a letter sent today to leaders of the House and Senate judiciary committees. "Without a hearing to drive the news, most Americans will never know how seriously their privacy has been compromised," the groups wrote in the letter, which was first shared with MT. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), one of the House lead co-sponsors, is "very interested in having the [Senate Judiciary] Committee move the bill," said an aide to Lofgren. "Every new story about how the government is buying access to vast databases of Americans' private data provides new urgency to pass my bipartisan bill," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the lead co-sponsor, said in a statement to MT. "Private companies are operating a virtual yard sale, offering access to detailed location information, private utility records, internet traffic data, and more. Without commonsense protections against warrantless use of that information, Americans will see their Constitutional privacy rights dwindle to virtually nothing." — Where the bill stands: The legislation has 20 Senate co-sponsors, including Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). An aide with the House Judiciary Committee told MT that the committee is "continuing to have discussions with stakeholders on and off Capitol Hill about how best to move" the bill. But politics might still doom it. A Democratic aide familiar with discussions in the House said that the bill was complicated by Jan. 6-related tensions when it was introduced last year. The legislation, H.R. 2738 (117) , was supposed to be filed with dozens of co-sponsors, including many ultra-conservative Republicans — and then the Capitol Hill riots happened. Many of the Republicans who were going to sign on also voted against election certification. "Democrats started saying, 'I can't be on a bill with that guy,'" the aide said, requesting anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the record. "There's a fair amount of support on both sides of the aisle for it, but following Jan 6., unfortunately there was zero momentum." "That doesn't mean it's dead ," the aide added. | 
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