09 Apr
2018
Zuckerberg on the Hill, Twice, Plus Trade Talks and Syria
- President Trump warned that a “big price” would be paid for a chemical weapons attack in Syria that killed at least 42 and injured hundreds, just a week after the president said the U.S. would be pulling out of Syria. In a tweet, Trump hurled blame in two directions: at Vladimir Putin, one of the few times he has cast aspersions on the Russian president, and, of course, on former President Obama. US policy in Syria is the subject Wednesday of an event at the Atlantic Council that includes a conversation with Ambassador Fred Hof, former special advisor for the transition in Syria.
- The really big show this week in Washington, of course, will be Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s two days of solo testimony on the social network’s privacy policies before the Senate and the House. On Tuesday, Zuckerberg will be the guest at a joint hearing by the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees, while on Wednesday he will appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. On Monday, the day before the 33-year-old billionaire’s first appearance before Congress, Zuckerberg will meet privately with various members.
- America’s escalating trade war with China either will or won’t become a big deal, according to the mixed messages of the president’s men who appeared on the Sunday talk shows. But the financial markets and US businesses are clearly nervous. There will be lots of talk about trade around DC this week, with the megillah being Thursday’s Ways and Means hearing on “The Effects of Tariff Increases on the U.S. Economy and Jobs.”
- But that’s not all folks. Wednesday brings a cornucopia of trade discussions: the House Small Business Committee examines “The State of Trade for America’s Small Businesses,” while a Senate Finance panel looks at “Market Access Challenges in China,” the Atlantic Council mulls “Protectionism, Data Privacy and the Transatlantic Partnership” and GW’s Elliott School discusses “Economic Security, Human Security and Protectionism.”
- It’s budget season, which means nearly every cabinet secretary will sooner or later be on the Hill pleading his or her case before the various House Appropriations subcommittees. The big ones this week include testimony from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Treasury’s Steven Mnuchin, and Homeland Security’s Kirstjen Nielsen, all on Wednesday, and Transportation’s Elaine Chao and Labor’s Alexander Acosta on Thursday.
- Other committees get in on even more budget action on Thursday when House Armed Services calls Defense Secretary James Mattis and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a look at proposed Pentagon spending for fiscal 2019, and the House Budget Committee hears about the Congressional Budget Office’s Budget and Economic Outlook.
- North Korea told the Trump Administration that it is willing to negotiate with the United States over denuclearization, an administration official said Sunday, which could help to pave the way for a meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un by the end of next month. A panel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee will look on Wednesday at “North Korea’s Diplomatic Gambit: Will History Repeat Itself?”
- Congress just can’t get enough of opioids, with three more hearings on the crisis scheduled for this week, all on Wednesday. The action includes the Senate HELP Committee’s consideration of “The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018,” while a House Oversight panel examines “Local Responses and Resources to Curtail the Opioid Epidemic,” and a Senate Judiciary panel takes on “Defeating Fentanyl.”
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has become a favorite target of the Trump Administration, which in February proposed a major restructuring of the agency that was born of the 2018 financial crisis and which has recovered billions of dollars for consumers during its short life. Earlier this year, CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney famously requested quarterly operating funds of $0 from the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, House Financial Services will hear from Mulvaney on the bureau’s semiannual report.
- The United States Chamber of Commerce will take a hard look at the United States’ global digital strategy on Tuesday during TecGlobal, the chamber’s daylong conference that examines global technology policy and features top tech officials from the White House, State Department, FTC, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Walmart. Have a great week!