LAWMAKERS WITH KIDS IN TECH FACE CONFLICT OF INTEREST CONCERNS: At least 17 members of Congress, including both Republicans and Democrats, have children who work or have recently worked for Google, Amazon, Meta or Apple, according to an analysis by Emily. It's a number that could grow as the biggest tech companies become ever-larger employers, and as Congress inches closer to regulating tech. Where it all began: Progressives mobilized against California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) last December, after a report by the New York Post revealed her daughter works on Google's legal team. (Lofgren's daughter works on contract law at Google, not antitrust.) But Lofgren is just one of several members of Congress in key positions overseeing the tech industry whose children work for big tech companies. — Both of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's daughters work for the tech giants: Alison Schumer works as a privacy and politics product marketing manager at Facebook parent company Meta, while Jessica Schumer is a registered lobbyist for Amazon in New York state. The fate of the Senate's antitrust bills targeting the tech industry comes down to Schumer, who will ultimately decide whether or not to bring them to the floor. A spokesperson for Schumer said the senator is working with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on robust antitrust legislation that will hold tech companies accountable, but declined to comment on his daughters' employment. — The son of Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, worked as a Facebook "extern" for several months focused on antitrust and data privacy in 2019. Lee's office did not respond to a request for comment. — Sen. Chris Van Hollen 's (D-Md.) daughter works as a director of global policy at Meta. Van Hollen sits on several committees that regulate the tech industry, including Banking, Appropriations and Foreign Relations. Van Hollen's office said the senator is "committed to holding big corporations accountable and ensuring strong consumer protections in all areas, including the tech sector," but declined to comment specifically on his daughter's position at Meta. — Sen. Rob Portman 's (R-Ohio) son worked on mergers and acquisitions at Google between 2014 and 2016. That was two years before Portman shepherded through H.R. 1865, also known as SESTA-FOSTA, which targeted a portion of the industry's Section 230 liability shield and represents the most serious reform passed by Congress since the start of the "techlash." Portman's office said his son never lobbied the senator, and did not work in public policy or lobbying of any kind during his time at Google. — The daughter of Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) worked between 2016 and 2020 as Google's global head of inclusion. During that time, Butterfield, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has scolded Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook's struggles with diversity and has spoken out about the lack of diversity in tech. Butterfield's office did not respond to a request for comment. — Taking a step back: Jeff Hauser, founder and director of the Revolving Door Project — an offshoot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a progressive think tank — said concerns about conflicts of interest only get more serious "the more congruent a member of Congress' agenda is with the interests of their child's employer." "There should be serious policing of the possibility that people are behaving in a biased manner," Hauser said. AT&T'S LOOMING 3G SUNSET ALARMS INDUSTRY USERS: This morning AT&T will officially shut down its 3G wireless service — the first of the major carriers to do so since that service first came online 20 years ago. The company says the move is needed in order to free up more spectrum for the transition to 5G wireless. But shutting down 3G will immediately deactivate several older smartphone models and other devices — including some security alarms, which caused the alarm industry to file an emergency petition with the Federal Communications Commission late last week. —Blinking red light: The petition filed Thursday by the Alarm Industry Communications Committee warned FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel that allowing AT&T to move forward with the shutdown without giving alarm companies time to manufacture and install replacements "will threaten irreparable harm to tens of millions of U.S. citizens." — FCC sanguine: Rosenworcel sought to downplay concerns around the 3G shutdown in a Friday call with John and other reporters. She said the agency has worked with AT&T specifically to make sure that alternative roaming service will remain available for some Internet of Things devices that use 3G, including alarms. Alex Byers, a spokesperson at AT&T, said any move to force a delay of today's 3G shutdown "would needlessly waste valuable spectrum resources and degrade network performance for millions of our customers." — First shoe to drop: Today it's just AT&T. But the other major carriers will soon be dropping their 3G services as part of the broader transition to 5G. T-Mobile plans to shut down the 3G network it acquired through Sprint on March 1 — one week from today — and will follow suit on its own 3G network July 1. And Verizon has committed to shutting down its 3G service by the end of 2022.
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