Business Maverick: Big Tech’s $95 Million Spending Spree Leaves Antitrust Bill on Brink of Defeat

The legislation’s sponsors can see the window narrowing. Antitrust advocates were expecting a vote before Congress adjourned for four weeks in August. But SchumerMinnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar, who introduced the bill along with Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, expressed confidence that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will put the proposal to the ultimate test by asking senators to vote on it now.

“Once this bill comes to the floor for a vote, we are confident it will pass,” Klobuchar told Bloomberg News.in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to pass and be sent to the House. Supporters like Yelp Inc.’s head of public policy Luther Lowe, a longtime Google critic, argue that enough undecided lawmakers would vote for the measure if it came to the floor.

A Schumer spokesperson said he’s working with the bill’s sponsors to find the necessary votes and he still plans to bring it to the floor.The bill was approved by both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on strong bipartisan votes. Several amendments have addressed concerns about privacy and security issues. What hasn’t killed the bill “has made it stronger,” said Yelp’s Lowe.

The measure seeks to restrict the companies from favoring their own products, so that competitors who depend on these platforms to reach consumers wouldn’t be at a disadvantage. That could impact the design of Google Maps, the display of Apple Music on an iPhone or the prominence of Amazon Basics on the company’s e-commerce site.concerns about the bill’s impact on content moderation, according to people familiar with the conversations.

Still, its path to becoming law isn’t going to get any easier. Congress has to fund the government in September before the next fiscal year begins Oct. 1. And the Senate is“I don’t see it going to the floor,” said Michael Petricone, senior vice president of government affairs at the Consumer Technology Association, a trade group that counts Amazon, Google and Facebook among its members. “With an election coming up, I expect senators to come back and focus on issues that are popular with voters.

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