The White House formally sent the Senate the nominations of Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak to be FTC commissioners Tuesday (see 2307030039). If confirmed, Ferguson would serve the remainder of ex-Commissioner Noah Phillips’ term (see 2210140048), plus a seven-year term starting in September. Holyoak would serve the remaining years of ex-Commissioner Christine Wilson’s seven-year term (see 2303020048), which began in September 2018.

FTC Chair Lina Khan is scheduled to appear before the House Judiciary Committee July 13 in a hearing on agency “mismanagement” and her “disregard for ethics,” committee Republicans announced Thursday. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; and Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, have been probing FTC leadership under Khan (see 2306280063). The agency didn’t comment Thursday.

President Joe Biden announced two Republicans with antitrust backgrounds Monday to potentially serve as FTC commissioners. Biden plans to nominate Virginia Solicitor General Andrew Ferguson and Utah Solicitor General Melissa Holyoak. Ferguson previously was chief counsel to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., between 2019 and 2021. He practiced antitrust law at several D.C. law firms, where he represented clients before the FTC and DOJ. Ferguson worked on Capitol Hill for Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Holyoak manages civil appeals, criminal appeals, constitutional defense and special litigation for the Utah attorney general’s office and its antitrust and data privacy divisions. She previously was general counsel at the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute and worked as an attorney at O’Melveny. A former prosecutor, she has argued before the 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and D.C. Circuits. Chair Lina Khan praised the two, saying each "would bring key skills, experiences, and expertise" to the agency.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is “gravely concerned” Instagram lacks the “motivation” to stop the promotion of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on its platform, Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and ranking member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote Friday in a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Other signers included Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. They cited reports (see 2306140051) that Instagram’s algorithms promote and facilitate “sexual interest in and activity with children,” including the sharing of CSAM. Findings from Stanford scholars show the company has a “general lack of resources devoted” to stopping the spread of CSAM, they said. The company didn’t comment.

The FTC needs to turn over documents about Chair Lina Khan’s communication with ethics officials to determine whether she violated ethics rules and misled Congress, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote the FTC Wednesday in a letter signed by House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. Jordan wrote that reports suggest Khan omitted information when responding to questions from Rodgers during a subcommittee hearing on Khan’s communications with the FTC's Designated Agency Ethics Official: Details suggest Khan “declined to fully follow ethics advice” that she recuse herself from a “pending FTC matter in 2022.” The matter involved the DAEO’s analysis on her ability to “sit as a judge in a specific proceeding before the FTC,” he wrote. Jordan requested transcribed interviews with FTC employees in various departments, including the Competition Bureau, the Technology Enforcement Division and the General Counsel’s Office, in a separate letter. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is also probing agency activity under Khan (see 2306230058). The FTC declined comment.

The National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, American Library Association and 13 other education groups endorsed FCC nominee Anna Gomez Wednesday and urged “a quick vote to confirm her.” Gomez’s confirmation prospects appear strong (see 2306270067) after facing tough but not overly negative questioning last week at a Senate Commerce Committee confirmation hearing. Gomez’s “extensive experience” at the FCC and NTIA “has prepared her well to serve as an FCC Commissioner and afforded her a deep understanding of the telecommunications issues, policies, and programs on which the education and library community has long been focused,” the groups said in a letter to Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “Our organizations’ central concern remains the preservation and enhancement of the E-Rate program, which provides deep discounts to schools and libraries on broadband services and Wi-Fi services. Additionally, we support further efforts to address the so-called ‘homework gap,’ including continuing" the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and emergency connectivity fund “and allowing E-Rate support to extend to the provision of Wi-Fi on” school buses. “Our organizations were heartened by” Gomez’s testimony to Senate Commerce that “recognized the importance of broadband connectivity for everyone,” the groups said: They also praised her testimony in support of E-rate.

Senate Commerce Committee Republicans are launching an investigation into the FTC’s “mismanagement” and “mistreatment of staffers” under Chair Lina Khan, ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, announced Thursday. In a letter he sent June 19, Cruz said he’s “troubled by recent reports regarding FTC employees’ sinking morale and deepening lack of confidence in FTC leadership.” He cited the 2022 Office of Personnel Management Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, which reported in January that 49% of FTC employees agreed agency “leaders maintain high standards of honesty and integrity.” He noted the percentage is 4 points lower than in 2021 and 38 points lower than 2020, when 87% of employees “believed that the agency’s leaders ‘maintain[ed] high standards of honesty and integrity.’” He encouraged FTC employees to report concerns to committee Republicans. House Judiciary Committee Republicans are also probing the agency (see 2304120052). The FTC confirmed receiving the letter but declined comment.

YouTube is wrong to allow “false content disputing the integrity” of the 2020 election and other elections to remain on its platform, House Commerce Committee Democrats wrote the company Thursday. They said a recent announcement to reverse election misinformation policies will allow false content to remain on the service. Ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., wrote the letter with House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.; House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif.; and House Oversight Subcommittee ranking member Cathy Castor, D-Fla. “While you claim that taking such action is ‘core to a functioning democratic society,’ we emphatically disagree,” they said. “Not only is this decision extremely irresponsible, but, in fact, it threatens to weaken our democracy, and therefore we strongly urge you to reconsider this harmful policy decision.” Google didn’t comment.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is sending a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel seeking a record refresh on streaming media services and “the changing landscape of media," she said Thursday during a Senate confirmation hearing for FCC nominees (see 2306220067). In 2014, former Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated a proposal (see 1410280053) to change the definition of a multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) to be technology neutral. “I’m very concerned about the decline of local news,” Cantwell said at the hearing. “The FCC started a proceeding to examine this issue but has been stalled for nearly a decade,” she said: “You can’t have an FCC that’s stalled over the complexity -- we have to resolve this issue.” The three commissioner nominees said they support reopening the proceeding. In the nearly 10 years “since the FCC launched the proceeding, the video service landscape has changed dramatically,” the letter says: “However, today when viewers have more options for what content to watch (and which platform to watch it from), local broadcasts remain the recognized expert and dominant source for local news for many Americans.” As consumers recognize, “streaming platforms have drastically changed their ability to access local broadcast content,” said NAB President Curtis LeGeyt. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., also raised the issue during the hearing, citing a Wall Street Journal opinion piece Thursday by former Commissioner Robert McDowell. A loophole in FCC rules “allows networks to take control of local stations’ distribution rights, negotiate ‘on their behalf’ with streaming services, pocket fees for others’ content, and leave stations with much less money than if they had cut their own deals,” McDowell wrote: “Stations are given a ‘choice’ to accept the networks’ terms or risk losing network programming, which could put them out of business.”

Bicameral, bipartisan legislation introduced Tuesday would create a national commission for exploring artificial intelligence regulation. Introduced by Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif.; Ken Buck, R-Colo.; and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., the National AI Commission Act would set the stage for commission recommendations on “any new office or governmental structure that may be necessary" and a "risk-based framework for AI,” Lieu’s office said. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, will introduce legislation in the Senate. The Computer & Communications Industry Association credits Congress for “taking the lead and gathering information before writing regulations that could impact U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence,” said President Matt Schruers. The 20-person commission will include computer science, civil society, government and industry experts and will deliver three separate reports.