Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s extensive ties to Big Tech firms have raised the specter that the powerful Democrat has put the brakes on much-sought antitrust legislation being pushed by his own party.
More than 80 former paid staffers of the longtime New York lawmaker have leveraged their time with Schumer to secure prestigious jobs, working directly with companies including Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple, according to data compiled for The Post.
The information was collected from publicly available filings of congressional staffers on LegiStorm — an online repository of data about congressional staffers and their compensation.
The analysis reviewed approximately 600 former paid Schumer staffers over the last 20 years and cross-referenced their employment history with other publicly available information – including lobbying registration, LinkedIn profiles and company websites – to determine their Big Tech ties.
The data comes as the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in January to move The U.S. Internet Innovation and Choice Act and the Open Marketplace Apps Act forward — but await Schumer’s green light for a full Senate vote.
“Schumer doesn’t want to bring the bills to the floor,” Matt Stoller, an antitrust expert and Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project, told The Post. “If he brings them to the floor they’ll pass – if you want to kill this legislation without being overt you’d just stop it from being put up for a vote.”
The Post was first to report that both of Schumer’s daughters are on the payroll of companies Schumer is supposed to be regulating. And the bevy of staffers who have worked alongside Schumer during his many years in Congress only add to the perceived conflict of interest Schumer has when it comes to cracking down on Big Tech.
Jessica Schumer is a registered lobbyist at Amazon, according to New York state records. Alison Schumer works at Facebook as a product marketing manager.
Schumer’s office provided a list to The Post of various actions the senator has taken to protect consumers. They also note one anti-Big Tech FTC Commissioner, Becca Kelly Slaughter, is a former Schumer staffer.
