The Senate antitrust subcommittee will hold a hearing on the proposed Comcast-NBC merger on February 4, the subcommittee’s chairman, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), announced today.

Brian Roberts, the Chairman and CEO of Comcast, and Jeff Zucker, the President and CEO of NBC Universal, are both scheduled to testify.

Here is the text of the release:

Antitrust Panel will Examine Deal’s Consequences for Competition and Consumers

U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, chairman of the Senate Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights subcommittee, today announced that he will hold a hearing into the proposed merger of communication industry giants Comcast and NBC Universal.

“The Comcast/NBC Universal Merger:  What Does the Future Hold for Competition and Consumers?” will examine the deal’s consequences in the realm of broadcast television, cable services and Internet delivery of programming, and its impact on consumer choices for these services

Brian Roberts, the Chairman and CEO of Comcast, and Jeff Zucker, the President and CEO of NBC Universal, are scheduled to testify.  The subcommittee will also call witnesses on behalf of their competitors and consumer advocates.

Comcast is the nation’s largest cable company, with almost 24 million subscribers; its acquisition of NBC Universal will add programming and media to its control, raising concerns about whether the deal will give the new entity an unfair advantage in the marketplace at the expense of consumers.

______________________________________________________________________________

WHEN:      Thursday, February 4^th, at 2:30 pm

WHAT:      Senate Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights

Subcommittee hearing:  “The Comcast/NBC Universal Mergers:

What Does the Future Hold for Competition and Consumers?”

WHERE:    Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 226

Washington, DC

Patrick Leahy (gov)

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Wednesday urged the Senate to confirm several nominees approved by his committee, including five Justice Department officials and two prospective U.S. Attorneys.

The nominees are:

• Dawn Johnsen, who was approved by his committee on March 19, for head of the Office of Legal Counsel.
• Mary L. Smith, who was reported out of the committee June 11, for head of the Tax Division.
• Christopher Schroeder, who was reported by the Judiciary panel  July 28, for head of the Office of Legal Policy.
• Susan B. Carbon, who was reported out of committee Dec. 3, for head of the Violence Against Women Office.
• John Laub, who was reported out of committee Dec. 3, for head of the National Institute of Justice.
• Sanford Coats, who was reported out of committee Dec. 3, for U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.
• Mary Elizabeth Phillips, who was reported out of committee Dec. 3, for U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

In a press release, Leahy said, “This year we have witnessed unprecedented delays in the consideration of qualified and noncontroversial nominations,” adding,  “We have had to waste weeks seeking time agreements in order to consider nominations that were then confirmed unanimously.  I hope that instead of withholding consent and threatening filibusters of President Obama’s judicial nominees, Senate Republicans will treat the nominees of President Obama fairly.”

He continued, “During President Bush’s last year in office, we reduced judicial vacancies to as low as 34, even though it was a presidential election year.  Judicial vacancies have now spiked.  There are currently 97 vacancies on our federal circuit and district courts, and 23 more have already been announced.  This is approaching record levels.  I know we can do better.  Justice should not be delayed or denied to any American because of overburdened courts and the lack of federal judges.”

Medical malpractice insurers are lobbying the Senate not to lump them in with health insurance companies as Congress moves to bring the industry under federal antitrust regulation.

The malpractice insurers are opposed to a proposal by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that they say would restrict companies’ ability to gather and share data.

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday advanced a bill that strips health insurers of the immunity from federal antitrust prosecution they have enjoyed since 1945, but which provides protections for data sharing. But in the Senate, Democratic leaders held a news conference Wednesday, in which they supported a similar amendment, but one that lacks the data sharing protections.

Lobbyists for medical malpractice insurers say they are focused on defeating or reshaping the proposed Senate amendment. “We’re pushing that they just take out medical liability insurance completely,” Michael Stinson, director of government relations at the trade group Physician Insurers Association of America, said in an interview with Main Justice.

The industry group collects and analyzes data from its member companies about average defense costs, types of claims, and patient safety information. It then sends back aggregated data to its members in the form of national averages.

Such information sharing, Stinson says, might be in jeopardy if the Senate amendment goes through. “We have no guarantee that regulators won’t decide that patient safety information is used to to set rates, and [therefore] fall under a broad definition of price fixing,” he said.

Meanwhile, some experts have suggested the consumer benefits of subjecting health insurers to federal antitrust laws might be overblown.

    

 

 

 

 

Image via CAP Action Fund

In what is shaping up to be a heated confirmation battle for a key Justice Department post, the Senate Judiciary Committee formally recommended former Clinton administration official Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel, splitting 11-7 along party lines.

Johnsen, a noted American Constitution Society blogger and anti-torture activist who spent five years in Clinton’s OLC, has drawn fire from conservatives for her past work with the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (now NARAL Pro-Choice America). Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), joining a chorus of conservative voices that include Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa); and National Review’s Andy McCarthy, has voiced opposition to the nomination.

“As I see it, Dawn Johnsen has not demonstrated the seriousness and necessary resolve to address the national security challenges we face,” said Cornyn, telling the Legal Times that he would fight to prevent Johnsen’s confirmation in front of the full Senate. But in a sign the former National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman may be more interested in scoring political points out of his opposition to the unabashedly liberal nominee than evaluating her fitness for office, he made only a brief appearance at her February 25th confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee and posed no questions.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), the ranking Republican on Judiciary, abstained from voting, citing his desire to see Johnsen get a vote in front of the Senate. The 79-year-old Specter faces a potentially tough Republican primary fight in his re-election campaign next year. Many centrist Republicans are believed to have changed party registration to vote Democratic in last year’s presidential election, skewing the Pennsylvania GOP primary more conservative.

Specter now appears to be pivoting on some of his moderate positions. Although he supports abortion rights, Specter at Johnsen’s confirmation hearing questioned her about a footnote in a 1989 amicus brief she co-authored that drew parallels between unwanted pregnancies and slavery. Johnsen said she does not believe that abortion restrictions violate the Thirteenth amendment against involuntary servitude. Democrats need only the support of a handful of moderates like Specter for the nomination to succeed.

Johnsen’s fight to lead the Office of Legal Counsel is not without precedent – Steven Bradbury, whom former President Bush nominated in 2005 for the position, was never confirmed by the Democratic 110th Congress. The author of controversial secret legal memos that authorized harsh interrogation techniques against terrorism suspects, Bradbury served as acting head throughout his 4-year tenure. This politicization is not surprising, as some have called the office “more important to the war on terrorism than the attorney general.” The OLC gives the executive branch guidance for acting within legal and constitutional bounds.

No date has been set for Johnsen’s confirmation vote in front of the Senate.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Republicans might delay the nomination of David Ogden as the next deputy attorney general, The BLT reports.

“I am very disappointed…[Ogden] is being held up and filibustered by Senate Republicans,” Leahy said at a Judiciary committee meeting yesterday.

Courtesy Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)

Republican leaders downplayed from the possibility of a filibuster.

“You’re asking me questions beyond the scope of my authority or knowledge,” said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) told The BLT after the Judiciary meeting yesterday.

The chairman’s aides later told The BLT that Senate Democrats have enough votes to override a filibuster, but said the Republicans may use other methods to delay Ogden’s appointment.

Some Republicans have opposed Ogden because he is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr, which has some pornographers among its clients, The BLT said.

Ogden, along with Associate Attorney General nominee Thomas Perrelli; Solicitor General nominee Elena Kagan; and David Kris, Assistant Attorney General nominee for the National Security Division, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee with large majorities. A Senate confirmation vote on the nominees is expected next week.