Big Tech Floods House Judiciary with Cash as Committee Intensifies Antitrust Review

Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google have donated vast sums of money to members of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee in advance of its Big Tech hearing on Wednesday.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administration Law will hold a hearing on Wednesday, which will feature testimony from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

This arises as Republicans and Democrats have become increasingly critical of the big tech’s dominance on the Internet; however, big tech companies’ donations to members of the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust may undermine potential efforts to find antitrust solutions against the power and influence of these big tech companies.

During the antitrust hearing, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), and Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-OH), will ask these tech giants questions alongside members of the House antitrust subcommittee. The House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee members include:

• House Judiciary Committee Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI)
• House antitrust subcommittee Vice Chair Joe Neguse (D-CO)
• Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA)
• Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD)
• Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)
• Rep. Val Demings (D-FL)
• Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA)
• Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA)
• House antitrust subcommittee ranking member Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
• Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL)
• Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO)
• Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND)
• Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL)

As the House Judiciary Committee prepares to hold its hearing, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google have donated large sums to the members of the committee.

Google

Google has donated $140,939 to members of the House Judiciary Committee during the 2020 term. Google donated $96,939 to House Judiciary Democrats, and $44,000 to House Judiciary Republicans. $26,439 of the donations came from individuals, whereas $114,500 of the donations come from political action committees (PACs).

Further, they have donated large sums to the committee’s leaders and members of the antitrust committee, including:

Republicans:

1. $10,000 to Ranking Member Jordan (R-OH)
2. $5,000 to Buck (R-CO)
3. $1,000 Steube (R-FL)

Democrats:

1. $8,705 to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Nalder (D-NY)
2. $6,570 to Neguse (D-CO)
3. $2,500 to Johnson (D-GA)
4. $2,000 to Raskin (D-MD)
5. $1,941 to Jaypal (D-WA)
6. $2,025 to Demings (D-FL)
7. $2,101 to Scanlon (D-PA)
8. $5,531 to McBath (D-GA)

Facebook

Facebook donated $110,390 in total to the House Judiciary Committee during the 2020 cycle. Facebook donated $100,620 to House Judiciary Democrats and $9,770 to House Judiciary Republicans. $85,890 of the total donations came from individuals from Google, $24,500 of the donations came from PACs.

Zuckerberg’s company donated to members, including:

Republicans:

1. $770 to Jordan
2. $1,000 to Armstrong

Democrats:

1. $16,705 to Nadler
2. $1,210 to Raskin
3. $1,613 to Jayapal
4. $3,800 to Demings
5. $1,000 to Scanlon
6. $12,783 to McBath

Amazon

Amazon donated $124,700 to the House Judiciary Committee, with $88,410 going to Democrats, and $36,290 going to Republicans. $37,200 of the total donations came from individuals within Amazon, and $87,500 came from Amazon-related PACs.

The e-commerce giant donated to individual members, including:

Republicans:

1. $1,730 to Jordan
2. $715 to Gaetz
3. $2,500 to Buck
4. $2,500 to Steube

Democrats:

1. $9,900 to Cicilline
2. $1,000 to Neguse
3. $1,000 to Johnson
4. $4,510 to Raskin
5. $15,398 to Jayapal
6. $6,000 to Demings
7. $1,015 to McBath

Apple

Apple donated the least money to members of the House Judiciary Committee, only donating $13,962 during the 2020 cycle. $12,167 went to House Judiciary Democrats, while $1,795 went to House Judiciary Republicans. $13,962 of the donations came from individuals within Apple.

The tech company donated:

Republicans:

1. $0 to House Judiciary members that will speak during Wednesday’s hearing.

Democrats:

1. $2,800 to Raskin
2. $198 to Jayapal
3. $2,033 to McBath

As these companies prepare to testify before the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr noted that big tech companies wield influence similar to that of a country.

He wrote in an op-ed, “A handful of corporations with state-like influence now shape everything from the information we consume to the places where we shop. These corporate behemoths are not merely exercising market power; they are abusing dominant positions.”