Inside the drama and disagreements ahead of APRA's markup
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The American Privacy Rights Act remains on deck to be marked up Thursday despite a dramatic week for its sponsors, waning industry support and an unclear path in the House.
Why it matters: Even if APRA makes it out of committee, House GOP leadership has indicated they will not bring it to a vote on the floor.
- That would render the dream of a bipartisan privacy bill, borne out of an agreement struck by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Sen. Maria Cantwell months ago, all but dead.
Driving the news: Disagreements among GOP members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, along with reservations from Democrats, suggest an uphill battle for advancing APRA out of committee Thursday.
- E&C Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers is pushing forward: "We had a constructive discussion about moving forward and how important it is for Congress to act," she told Axios following a GOP House E&C member meeting today.
- CMR said that the committee would be moving forward with the markup.
- Asked if she had the votes to pass the bill out of committee, she said, "we're working it," and that they're working with anyone who has thoughts about how to improve the bill.
Inside the room: After CMR faced an onslaught of criticism from fellow members, GOP leadership and outside groups all week, Republican members gathered to discuss the bill on Wednesday afternoon.
- One member inside the room who asked not to be named described the meeting's tone as emotional and aggressive, with members clearly not wanting to vote for the bill and a sense that CMR is going against the wishes of leadership.
Here's a roundup of some more things we heard about the bill and today's meeting:
- Rep. Buddy Carter said he's undecided on how he'll vote in committee and that he and other members have issues with the bill's private right of action.
- Carter: "I'm trying to see if we can get everybody to a place where we can get it out of committee, with the commitment that it is going to be put on the House floor."
- Carter also said amendments will be offered to the bill during the markup.
Rep. Bob Latta, who's vying for CMR's gavel after she retires, also has issues with the bill as it is currently drafted, per a source familiar.
- A senior House GOP aide said there are issues among some members with how language around health data and HIPAA is worded, putting med tech providers at risk of being sued for sharing approved information with doctors.
- Rep. Jay Obernolte said he thinks the bill could be improved, but he plans to vote for it.
- Rep. Jan Schakowsky said she was unhappy civil rights protections were stripped out of the bill, but that she plans to vote for it: "I think this is something we can fix next Congress... this is as far as we're going to get with a comprehensive bill right now."
Juliegrace Brufke contributed to this report.
