Key Takeaways
- •Sen. Cruz (R-TX) recessed the business meeting after all Democratic members boycotted the session, preventing the committee from voting on a slate of bipartisan legislative items.
- •Sen. Cruz (R-TX) stated that Democrats refused to attend the markup because he would not include a last-minute bill from Sen. Duckworth on the committee's legislative agenda.
- •Sen. Lummis (R-WY) asked Sen. Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Fischer (R-NE) if committee rules allow for a "call of the committee" to force attendance during deliberate partisan boycotts.
- •Sen. Wicker (R-MS) and Sen. Blackburn (R-TN) accused Democrats of abandoning bipartisan bills on quantum research and child safety to prioritize political disputes over Department of Homeland Security funding.
- •The committee remains in recess, delaying votes on the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act and the No Fentanyl on Social Media Act until a quorum can be reached.
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Hearing Analysis
Overview
This business meeting was intended to be a bipartisan markup of several high-priority bills covering social media safety, satellite security, and quantum research. However, the session devolved into a one-sided discussion among Republican members following a total boycott by the committee’s Democratic members. The hearing took place against the backdrop of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, with Republican leadership accusing Democrats of abandoning their own legislation and failing to support federal workers, including members of the United States Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), who are currently working without pay.
Key Testimony & Policy
Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) outlined an agenda of eight bipartisan bills that had been scheduled for consideration. A significant portion of the legislative package focused on digital safety and social media regulation. The No Fentanyl on Social Media Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), would mandate that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) investigate how minors access illicit drugs on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Additionally, the Stop the Scroll Act, introduced with Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), proposed mandatory mental health warning labels for social media platforms to alert young users to potential psychological harms.
The committee also intended to advance several national security and technology measures. The Secure Space Act, sponsored by Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), seeks to restrict Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensing for satellite systems controlled by foreign adversaries. Complementing this, the Satellite Cybersecurity Act would create a cybersecurity resource clearinghouse within the Department of Commerce. In the realm of advanced science, the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act was highlighted as a critical tool for maintaining American leadership in computing and encryption defense, supporting new research centers and testbeds.
Other measures on the agenda included the Alex Gates Safety Act, which directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to establish safety standards for automatic sliding gates following the death of a child, and the SAFEGUARDS Act, which would reform aviation security fees to increase funding for the Aviation Security Capital Fund and new checkpoint technology. Finally, the Regional Ocean Partnerships Act was set for reauthorization to coordinate state-led ocean research and management.
Notable Exchanges & Partisan Dynamics
The hearing was defined by the complete absence of Democratic members. Chairman Cruz characterized the boycott as a "Democrat temper tantrum," alleging that the walkout was triggered by his refusal to include a last-minute bill from Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) on the markup agenda with only one day's notice. He noted that 24 of the 28 committee members had co-sponsored at least one bill on the agenda, making the refusal to attend particularly unusual.
Sen. Roger F. Wicker (R-MS), a former chairman of the committee, stated that in his 16 years of service, he had never seen an entire party membership attempt to shut down a committee markup. He and Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) linked the boycott to broader negotiations over DHS funding, claiming that Senate Leadership had "moved the goalposts" on a funding agreement despite the President reportedly being willing to compromise. Sen. Sullivan spoke passionately about the impact on the Coast Guard, noting that while other military branches are being paid, Coast Guard members are not, despite their active deployment in high-risk areas like the Middle East.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) suggested that DHS employees should file wage and hour lawsuits against the Democratic senators for failing to pass funding while continuing to draw their own salaries. Sen. Cynthia M. Lummis (R-WY) raised a procedural question regarding whether committee rules could be amended to allow for a "call of the committee" to force attendance, expressing concern that such boycotts could become a recurring tactic in the Senate.
Organizations Mentioned
* United States Coast Guard: Discussed extensively regarding the lack of pay for its members during the DHS shutdown and the stalling of officer promotions due to the cancelled markup. * Transportation Security Administration (TSA): Mentioned in the context of the funding crisis, with reports of agents quitting and long airport wait times resulting from missed paychecks. * United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS): The central agency at the heart of the funding impasse, with its shutdown impacting various security and emergency functions. * Meta Platforms, Inc.: Criticized by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) following a New Mexico court verdict finding the company knowingly misled consumers about child safety. * Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Identified as a primary regulator in the No Fentanyl on Social Media Act, tasked with reporting on drug access via social platforms. * Oak Ridge National Laboratory: Praised by Sen. Blackburn for its role in advancing quantum computing and artificial intelligence innovation. * Federal Communications Commission (FCC): Mentioned as the agency responsible for implementing new restrictions on satellite licenses for foreign adversaries under the Secure Space Act.
What's Next
Chairman Cruz placed the committee in recess "subject to the call of the chair," leaving the timing for a rescheduled markup uncertain. The legislative progress of the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act and the various social media safety bills remains stalled until a quorum can be reached. Meanwhile, the broader standoff over DHS funding continues to affect pay for the Coast Guard and TSA, with no immediate vote scheduled to resolve the impasse.
Transcript
Good morning, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will come to order. I appreciate the Republican members who are here this morning for the markup. We are gathered at a time where in the United States Senate, Senate Democrats have decided to be utterly and completely dysfunctional. So for more than three weeks, we have had the Department of Homeland Security defunded and shut down because Democrats have decided their overwhelming priority is fighting for illegal aliens, and they care so much about preventing gangbangers and murderers and child rapists from being deported that they are willing to defund the Department of Homeland Security at a time of heightened risk of terrorism. We have had four terrorist attacks in the last two weeks, all from radical Islamic terrorists. The Department of Homeland Security exists to prevent terrorist attacks, and every Democrat but one, every Democrat but John Fetterman, has voted seven times now to defund DHS. They voted seven times not to pay the TSA. We now have 450 TSA agents who have been forced to quit. We have waiting lines of two, three, four hours or more at airports across the country. TSA agents have missed two paychecks. What the Democrats are doing to TSA agents is wildly irresponsible, and they are deliberately inflicting massive pain on the American people, again, because their number one priority is illegal aliens, and apparently American citizens who they were elected to represent is not a priority. This markup was designed to be a markup to move bipartisan legislation that had overwhelming agreement. Today's markup, every one of the bills on the markup is bipartisan. Of the 28 members on this committee, 24 of the 28 cosponsored legislation on the agenda today. That's by design. The legislation scheduled for the markup includes the Alex Gates Safety Act from Senators Curtis and Klobuchar, directing the Consumer Product Safety Commission to address automatic sliding gates. It's named for Alex Quanbeck, who tragically lost his life to one of these gates in 2019 when he was just seven years old. The No Fentanyl on Social Media Act, introduced with Senators Klobuchar and Blunt Rochester, responds to the tragedy of minors accessing deadly drugs online. We face the challenge of opioids time and time again. Last February, this committee heard directly from Janna Ellinger of Texas, whose son tragically passed away after taking what he thought was a Xanax. Increasingly, drug dealers are reaching young people via platforms like TikTok and Instagram, pitching supposedly legitimate pills that are in fact laced with fentanyl. To address this issue, the bill before us directs the Federal Trade Commission, in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services, to report on the ability of minors to access fentanyl on social media. The Stop the Scroll Act, introduced with Senator Fetterman, would require a warning label regarding mental health harms associated with social media. The bill has been scoped to avoid First Amendment challenges and to help remind young users of what we heard at our Section 230 hearing last Wednesday, that social media comes with risks. Next, we have several security-related bills. The Secure Space Act from Senators Fischer and Lujan would bar FCC licenses and U.S. market access for certain satellite systems held or controlled by our adversaries. The Satellite Cybersecurity Act, introduced by Senator Peters, would establish a centralized clearinghouse of cybersecurity resources at the Department of Commerce. The SAFEGUARDS Act, introduced by Senator Moran, makes changes to the mandatory security fee that passengers pay when they buy plane tickets. More of the money will go to the Aviation Security Capital Fund as well as a new bucket for security tech at checkpoints. And finally, we turn to the realm of science with two program reauthorizations: Senator Wicker's bill to reauthorize Regional Ocean Partnerships, introduced with Senators Blunt Rochester and Markey, will reform and reauthorize a state-led non-regulatory model for coordinated ocean research and management. The National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act, introduced by Senators Young, Cantwell, Blackburn, Lujan, Budd, and Baldwin, among others, will catalyze federal quantum research by supporting new centers and testbeds. I will not pretend quantum is easy to explain, but I know that it has the potential to unlock computing power far beyond what is possible today. And because quantum could one day break the encryption that protects sensitive data, it is critical that America leads this field. This overwhelmingly bipartisan markup was actually going to be the Senate doing its job. But instead, and I guess it is fitting with the shutdown we're seeing, we are treated to a Democrat temper tantrum. Our Democrat colleagues have decided they're not willing to show up to this markup to pass their own damn bills. They are the author or co-author of every bill on the markup, and yet apparently they don't want to pass their own legislation. The origin of this dispute is last Tuesday, the day before we noticed this markup, Senator Duckworth's staff for the first time asked my staff to put a bill of hers on the markup. With one day's notice, we did not have time to review the bill or to assess it. And so Senator Duckworth had planned to introduce 50 amendments to be dilatory, to keep members here for hours and waste their time to try to block these amendments. I will say that is a very strange way to conduct business. And I will speak to my Republican colleagues, every member of this committee knows that last year when I became chairman, I went personally to the office of every member of this committee. And I asked every member of this committee, what are your priorities? What matters for your constituents, what do you want to move forward? And it wasn't just Republicans, I went to the office of every Democrat and said, what do you care about moving in the Commerce Committee this year? I went to Senator Duckworth's office and I asked her, what are your priorities? Neither she nor her staff raised this issue with my team until Tuesday of last week. And so this temper tantrum is bizarre, but sadly it is fitting with what we're seeing the Democrats doing across the board. Look, the United States Senate is a body that is meant to be occupied by adults who are actually responsible and capable of doing their job. Half of this committee showed up to work today. Half of this committee is prepared to pass bipartisan legislation that would actually make a difference in this country, but the other half, the Democrats, are more interested in throwing a fit than doing their job. That is unfortunate. Senator Fischer has asked to be recognized, and so Senator Fischer.
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