House Republicans Prepare to Pick Next Commerce Committee Chair in Tight Battle

“We got three great candidates: Greg Walden, John Shimkus and myself,” Barton said. “I think it’s wide open. We’ve all been working hard. We’ve all got good records. … I really do think as of right now, I’ve just been talking to people on the floor, I think it’s wide open.”

“We’re pleased,” Shimkus said of how his bid has gone. “We’re just doing what we need to do.”

All three launched their bids with different styles this year. Shimkus is most public, open about his intentions early in the year. Six years ago, he campaigned for the position and lost to current Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., who has hit his term limit. Shimkus entertained his desire to overhaul the 1996 Telecom Act for months and after the election sent a letter to all colleagues tallying his achievements (see 1611140067). Walden, more junior than Shimkus but also chair of the prominent National Republican Congressional Committee, has remained much more private about his bid and, while long rumored, only announced publicly this fall. Barton, the most senior of the three, signaled interest midway through the year and suggested he would pursue the most action. All three lawmakers told us this summer the next Congress should take a bigger stab at telecom overhaul in 2017 (see 1607220053), a process that Walden began as Communications Subcommittee chairman this past Congress and that Barton attempted in his past 2005-2006 tenure as chairman, clearing legislation from the House.

Commerce Committee Vice Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., was also a suspected bidder, but she hasn't announced any interest. She's focusing much energy on the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. She’s a longtime Trump backer and he named her as a transition executive committee vice chair Tuesday. She and Trump met in New York earlier that day.

30-Minute Bids

GOP steering committee members hold 36 votes. Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has four votes, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., two, and the rest one each. The roster for the incoming Congress was finalized Tuesday. Other Commerce members on the committee include Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., seen as close with Shimkus; Upton; Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Walden and Shimkus. Lawmakers including Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., are also members.

They told us the private bids would happen Thursday afternoon, as expected. “You got 30 minutes,” Shimkus said. “You’re requested to have approximately 10 minutes for opening comments or presentation or however you want to do it as an individual. And then 20 minutes for questions.”

Walden, as with his earlier campaigning, declined to comment at length. “I’m going to make both the opening and the closing arguments before the Steering Committee and probably nowhere else,” he said. “I think that’s where they’re appropriately made and the campaign’s appropriately run. Those who actually have the votes in the room. I’ve held to that and continue to.”

“This’ll just be mostly on that I’ve been on the committee for 20 years, I’ve served on all the subcommittees, I’ve moved legislation through each subcommittee,” Shimkus said of arguments he’s made on his merits. He framed himself as the choice “if you want someone who can go from day one on the policy agenda.”

“My pitch is pretty straightforward,” Barton said. “I was chairman for two years, 2005 and '06. I’m a senior guy ready to go day one. Really want to do it to help the country. … I think experience counts when you’re trying to move a major agenda like Trump is.” Barton cited his longtime working relationships with Walden and Shimkus, who had subcommittee roles under him: “Whoever they pick is going to do a good job. I hope it’s me.”

Repeal USF?

One telecom policy difference among candidates may be on the FCC’s USF, Barton told us. Walden “and I, I think, see eye to eye” on telecom generally, Barton said. “Maybe not so much on universal service fund. I think we ought to really reform it and maybe repeal it. Greg I think is for real reform, but he’s not quite ready to talk about repeal. That might be one substantive difference.”

Barton has floated the idea of such a repeal for years. “It was set up when we had regulated monopoly telephone service and it was really set up so that the rural areas could get service and they used the universal service fund,” Barton said. “They basically did a surtax on urban areas to use it in the rural areas. And one time you had all these small rural telephone companies. It may have made sense way back then. But now it’s grown, and huge amounts of money, the taxes are very significant if you still have a hardline phone. At a minimum, we could move away from line service to cellphone service. There’s just a lot of stuff. … We could save some money. We definitely ought to hold hearings. Greg and I, and I assume John, also agree the so-called Obamaphones have been abused. That’s coming out of the fund. And Greg has done some good work, certainly, in the hearing process, and has had some success in cutting back on some of the abuses.”

The USF is “more important than ever in an era where a robust, affordable broadband connection is necessary to participate and compete in our digital economy,” countered NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield, citing its “substantial” overhaul and judging the fund still essential. “On behalf of the millions of rural Americans whom our members serve, NTCA is looking forward to working with the incoming administration, the next Congress, and new leadership at the FCC to build upon the successful public-private partnership of universal service to enhance the reach and sustainability of rural broadband for the benefit of all Americans.”

“It’s popular for Beltway Republicans right now to make claims about massive fraud, with zero proof for their claims,” said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood. “But it’s unfortunate if Joe Barton is really serving up these warmed-over and false talking points on Lifeline.” Wood cited positive work with Barton on USF overhaul a decade ago but criticized his use of the Obamaphone label for the Lifeline program, noting the Republican presidents under which Lifeline was founded and expanded. “Threats to cap the program when it still serves less than a third of eligible recipients today -- or even to eliminate it entirely -- are not just unhelpful,” Wood said. “They are offensive and morally indefensible.”

Unified on Title II

Barton suspected the three House chair contenders would have more in common on addressing net neutrality. “The internet should not be regulated under Title II of the Communications Act,” he said. “It’s not a common carrier. … that’s something we ought to clarify.” When asked whether the Republican FCC or Congress should act, Barton sided with Congress: “Last I looked in the Constitution, the Congress is the legislative body. And the Obama administration bent over backwards to do it through regulation, which I know is wrong. And I’d want to do that pretty quickly. My assumption is Greg Walden would also want to do that, although I haven’t talked to him about it.” Barton thinks all three would “be together on internet and net neutrality 100 percent, it might be a little different on [USF].”

Walden has proposed legislating on net neutrality to codify the open internet rules while nixing Title II reclassification of broadband. A Shimkus aide said recently Shimkus would prefer to see what a Republican FCC might do (see 1611210028).

“Greg obviously is telco subcommittee chairman,” Barton said. “He knows the issue backward and forward. He’s very intelligent, very articulate.” But he cited his own experience on all the subcommittees and said telecom might not be the “litmus test” the steering committee looks at. Walden also faces a term limit in his subcommittee chairmanship and unless jurisdiction changes, he would be unable to lead it in the event of losing the full Commerce bid (see 1607270043). “That’s for a chairman to decide,” Shimkus told us when asked whether he may tweak the jurisdictions. “And I’m not the chairman yet.”

Walden dismissed any potential for his departure from Congress to chair the forthcoming Republican FCC, a possibility seen as unlikely but circulating among some industry officials’ in recent days about Walden’s next steps if he fails to get the Commerce gavel. “I hope not!” Walden declared of FCC chairmanship. “No interest.”