House Republican Will Reintroduce Kids’ Online Safety Act

Children’s privacy is a high priority for House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2025. Their exact plans are unclear at this point, though in interviews last month they suggested that Republicans might reset the legislative process this year with new kids’ privacy and comprehensive measures (see 2501030039).

Bilirakis told us he met with his staffers Wednesday and authorized the reintroduction of KOSA. “It is my No. 1 priority, for sure, this term,” he said. “The sooner we get it [reintroduced], the better.”

Bilirakis has been named chair of the House Commerce Subcommittee, marking his second year leading the panel with top-ranking Democrat Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., top Democrat on the Senate Privacy Subcommittee, told us he will reintroduce KOSA in the upper chamber. Asked whether he has confidence House Republicans can deliver a bipartisan bill resembling the version of KOSA that passed the Senate 91-3 in July, Blumenthal said: “I haven’t heard anything about the House plans for KOSA, but I am certainly going to continue to support and advocate and reintroduce a measure that will protect children.” The office for Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who co-wrote KOSA with Blumenthal, confirmed she will be joining him in reintroducing the bill this year.

Bilirakis told us he’s scheduling meetings with Guthrie, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. Opposition from Johnson and Scalise last year led to then-House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., pulling a markup for the committee’s comprehensive privacy bill (see 2406270046). Johnson has since said he wants the “right” children’s safety legislation signed into law. Bilirakis told us Guthrie is willing to “help” on KOSA.

House Commerce in September approved KOSA and the less controversial Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) by voice vote, despite objections from ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Democrats. Some members of the minority have said the House companion bill is a watered-down version of what passed the Senate (see 2409180048). Pallone criticized Republican leadership for “interfering” in the committee’s attempt to mark up comprehensive privacy legislation.

Pallone told us Thursday: “We had no consensus [on KOSA]. We’ll try to come to a consensus now. Members were all over the lot, so we have to try to build a consensus now. We’ll try. I don’t think it’s starting all over. I think we have a better idea of what the problems are” and where members stand.

It’s “too bad” Johnson and Scalise “killed the bill last year,” said Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., who introduced KOSA, with Bilirakis, in 2024. Republicans on the committee were interested in approving something “meaningful” on kids’ privacy, she said. Castor noted how states are passing laws to hold the tech industry accountable, which is fueling industry calls for Congress to pass preemptive legislation.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., told us he recently met with Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. They introduced COPPA 2.0 in the Senate in 2024. They have continued to work through issues on the bill to get House support, he said, and that by the end of 2024, they had the necessary Republican backing for passage. “Hopefully, that ground is not lost” in 2025, Cassidy said.