House Commerce Set for GOP Leadership Rumble; All Contenders Eye 2017 Telecom Rewrite

A hotly anticipated GOP fight for leadership of the House Commerce Committee is less than six months away, and four of the known likely contenders told us they want a renewed committee focus on rewriting the 1996 Telecom Act in the next Congress. Two key lawmakers seen as interested for more than a year are the more-senior Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., who never hid his intentions, and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., who only recently began expressing public interest (see 1505140064 and 1509280058). Commerce Committee Vice Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, also may be in the mix.

The battle will happen after November elections. Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., faces a six-year term limit, as does Walden in his role as Communications Subcommittee leader. Walden said he doesn’t anticipate retaining his subcommittee leadership.

Long-acknowledged merits in the battle include Shimkus’ seniority and closeness with Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., who's Shimkus’ Washington roommate. Walden, meanwhile, chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, the GOP campaign arm that’s focused on raising millions of dollars for House races and seen as very influential in steering committee consideration. Shimkus acknowledged he and Walden discussed the matter earlier this year. Both Shimkus and Barton unsuccessfully challenged Upton for the post after the 2010 elections.

“Obviously, the steering committee will decide who the next chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee is,” Walden said in an interview. “Fred’s term-limited out. And I assume that there will be several of us looking at it.”

Walden didn’t deny interest in the position and freely entertained scenarios in which he chairs Commerce next year, assuming Republicans retain their majority. “Yeah, absolutely,” Walden told us of the likelihood of his resuming a Communications Act overhaul effort in 2017 if elevated to Commerce Committee chairman. “We’ve done a lot of the groundwork for it, and I think the marketplace continues to evolve rapidly, and clearly we’ve got some outdated laws.” He would “still be involved” in the effort and subcommittee “one way or another,” said Walden, who tried to launch a Communications Act overhaul in December 2013 and 2014. That effort was seen as a possible early maneuver in Walden’s play for committee leadership down the road. He and Upton blame its 2015 stall on net neutrality discussions, but Democrats question whether there was ever bipartisan outreach.

Walden, Shimkus Lead

Barton, a former Commerce Committee chairman, acknowledged several “obvious” candidates: “Mr. Walden, Mr. Shimkus, Ms. Blackburn,” he said without prompting. “I am eligible, so I’m going to see how things go, but I’m certainly considering it, and I’m sure the others I mentioned are, too. And there may be more."

“Our focus is on being a loyal trooper, being helpful to Chairman Upton, to not disrupt what we need to do now based upon a future race,” said Shimkus, a member of Commerce’s Communications Subcommittee and chairman of the full committee's Environment and the Economy Subcommittee, in an interview. “But everybody knows that I’m interested. I think I kind of meet some of the basic requirements that you should look at in a chairman, and I hope when the time comes, that my colleagues will give me their support.” He emphasized a desire to be “very respectful” to current committee leadership and priorities, such as Upton’s efforts to get his 21st Century Cures initiative passed. “We don’t want to disrupt any of this committee work based upon some race that really will be conducted, in essence, by a small group of people, i.e., the steering committee, and be ratified by the Republican conference as a whole, after the election,” Shimkus told us. “As people are coming to talk to me about wanting to be on certain committees, that gives me an opportunity to talk to them about the chairmanship and what that would look like if that were to happen. But we’re really trying to underplay.”

Blackburn didn’t confirm her intentions. “We’ll see what the year holds,” she told us, repeating the line when pressed on whether she has an interest in leading on the Commerce Committee or the Communications Subcommittee. But the more junior Blackburn, like the other three lawmakers, freely expressed her desire to return to a rewrite effort: “I would hope that we can do a couple of things with the Communications Act rewrite and one of ’em would be to clear up the net neutrality situation. I think people want a little bit of clarity. And the second thing is to make certain that the FCC understands where their lanes are and that they’re in those lanes.”

Walden and Shimkus are likely “the two leading candidates,” said Henry Waxman, a California Democrat who was in the House 40 years and is a former Commerce Committee chairman. He retired at the end of 2014, previously working alongside all the Republican lawmakers, and now lobbies for TracFone Wireless and other clients. Shimkus, Walden and Barton all “would be very skillful,” Waxman said, lauding their legislative abilities, despite his preference for a Democratic majority in the chamber. He warned against underestimating Barton, who was productive in 2004-2006 as chairman and likely will have many influential Texas Republicans holding on to their seats. In auditions before the steering committee, Shimkus likely will be able to tout his shepherding of the Toxic Substances Control Act, “a real plus,” and Walden his work on the 2012 Spectrum Act, which led to the creation of FirstNet and the ongoing broadcast TV incentive auction, said Waxman.

Telecom Spending

Another consideration in committee leadership battles is lawmakers’ fundraising efforts. Walden has leveraged his telecom heft as part of his New Pioneers leadership political action committee, which raised $815,952 this cycle and spent $607,434, according to Federal Election Commission records. The disbursements go to myriad campaigning efforts of House Republicans, often $5,000 per lawmaker, including such re-election bids as Reps. Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, Doug Collins of Georgia, Barbara Comstock of Virginia and Martha McSally of Arizona. Shimkus runs the John S Fund leadership PAC, which raised $326,400 and spent $302,783 this cycle. Blackburn’s leadership PAC is called Marsha and attracted $116,600, with $91,575 disbursed. Barton’s Texas Freedom Fund raised about $34,000 and spent $25,328, meager sums compared to cycles past. For the 2006 election cycle, when Barton chaired Commerce before, this leadership PAC raised more than $1 million.

Walden’s list of donors is populated with telecom and media heavyweights he oversees. The PACs of AT&T, Google and 21st Century Fox donated $10,000 each to Walden’s New Pioneers. Comcast’s PAC gave $7,000, and at PAC level, the American Cable Association, CenturyLink, Charter Communications, CTA, Cox Enterprises, GCI, Microsoft, NAB, NCTA, U.S. Cellular and Verizon each gave $5,000. The Information Technology Industry Council, Intel and Viacom gave lesser amounts. Sean Parker, a Facebook co-founder, donated $5,000. Former NAB CEO Eddie Fritts, now a lobbyist, donated more than $1,000. Other donations came from MPAA Executive Vice President Joanna McIntosh, former NAB Executive Vice President James May and Motorola Solutions CEO Greg Brown. On top of additional tens of thousands of dollars from telecom, media and tech industry PACs, individual broadcasters including NAB CEO Gordon Smith and cable executives including Comcast Senior Executive Vice President David Cohen donated to the $2.4 million Walden separately holds in his campaign committee fund, which has doled out more than $1.4 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee and other groups and races.

Shimkus, who co-chairs the Congressional NextGen-911 Caucus and has, as he told us, “been very fortunate to be on the telecommunications subcommittee my whole career,” also scored telecom PAC donations to his leadership PAC. It received $10,000 from the NCTA committee and $5,000 from those of AT&T, Charter and Comcast, $4,000 from NAB’s and money from CenturyLink, Verizon, Viacom and Bright House Networks, now a part of Charter. Blackburn’s leadership PAC, too, received $5,000 each from the AT&T and NCTA PACs and $2,500 from those of Comcast and Verizon. AT&T’s PAC donated $3,500 to Barton’s committee. As with Walden, the campaign war chests of Shimkus, Blackburn and Barton are larger than their leadership PACs: $2.6 million raised by Shimkus, more than $1.53 million by Blackburn and just over $1 million by Barton, all also showcasing relevant industry donations.

Fundraising and personality are seen as factors guiding steering committee consideration. “Representative Shimkus is considered a good conservative, and a lot of the Republican conservatives will want him to take what he’s entitled to by seniority,” Waxman told us. He predicted Walden’s campaign arm role will be a double-edged sword in a surprising election year. “He won’t be as popular at a time when I think many House Republicans will be voted out,” Waxman said, believing presumptive Democratic presidential nominee “Hillary Clinton is going to win and win big and that’s going to affect the rest of the ticket.” But after Walden’s two terms, the Republican conference may feel it owes him “a debt of a gratitude,” Waxman reflected. “A lot will depend on the election.”

Waxman predicted a “very difficult” time for Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., after the election if the GOP numbers are reduced, a “very tricky” scenario necessitating more bipartisan work. “He’ll have that on his mind as he tries to solidify his control,” Waxman said. “The chairmanships usually go by seniority but not absolutely.” Due to his leadership style, Ryan may exert less pressure over the steering committee than former Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, would have, a different telecom industry lobbyist said. Ryan reduced his steering committee voting power from five votes to four. But Ryan will carry weight, countered a media industry lobbyist, pointing out how Walden and Ryan fundraising efforts synchronized well in 2016. The telecom industry lobbyist thinks it’s Shimkus’ perch to lose, also citing possible belief among Republicans that Walden is more moderate. The media industry lobbyist sees a strong chance Walden scores the position, a partial reward for a steady hand during a year full of cross-currents due to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Subcommittee Fate Uncertain

The committee fight will determine Walden’s subcommittee successor. “You’ve got to figure out who the chairman is, because the chairman picks the subcommittee chairman,” Barton said. “Until you know who the chairman is, you can’t speculate on subcommittee chairs.” Telecom industry lobbyists have speculated the subcommittee spot could fall to Shimkus or Blackburn if Walden wins the full committee fight. Communications Subcommittee Vice Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, who has been especially active on telecom in the last year, forming a Rural Broadband Caucus and IoT working group, is seen as another possible contender. Blackburn would likely shake up the subcommittee the most, one telecom lobbyist said. The media lobbyist said the process of determining subcommittee leaders tends to be a scramble that happens fast and more unpredictably.

“My goal is to secure a leadership position on the Committee next Congress,” Latta told us in a statement. “I have been privileged to have served on all of the Committee’s subcommittees and to have had five bills, as either stand-alone legislation or amended into other legislation, that have been signed into law from the Committee’s jurisdiction.”

“People are starting to go around, saying, ‘Hey, I’d like to do this if you’re the chairman, I’d like you to do that,’” Shimkus said of the subcommittee role. “But I’m not the chairman.” He distanced himself from the idea of leading the subcommittee despite his enthusiasm for a telecom rewrite. “We’re all friends, we all work together well,” Shimkus added, saying he “actually drove [Walden] over to the votes” during the final days before lawmakers left for their seven-week summer recess. He cited the earlier “good conversation,” a more formal “sit-down meeting,” about the contest as a way to be “up front” with Walden. “I don’t like to have, ‘Well, what’s he thinking?’” he said. “We work well together, and we want to continue to do that.”

Whoever prevails, revisiting the Telecom Act will be in his or her plans. “It needs to be done,” said Barton, who cleared an ultimately stalled telecom rewrite from the House when he chaired Commerce before (see 1402110041). “We’ve got a Telecommunications Act that was before really major broadband deployment, before an app-driven world, before everyone carried a computer in their back pocket,” said Shimkus, who has freely noted his desire for a rewrite in the hearing room, interviews and statements in recent months. “No one really thinks that a law written in 1934, which was revised in 1996, would meet the needs of the 21st-century communications system.” Waxman sees a rewrite possibility “if Republicans acknowledged the court decision and took that issue off the table.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently upheld net neutrality rules. If the rewrite effort involves any “fight” over net neutrality, “I think it would be difficult to get Democrats to go along," whether on Capitol Hill or in a possible Clinton administration, cautioned Waxman.