Guthrie Sees Path Forward for Privacy, Starting With House E&C Group

Guthrie and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told us previously they expect a full reset on legislation in 2025, after bipartisan kids and comprehensive bills failed to pass in 2024 (see 2501030039).

Authors of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which House Republican leadership opposed in 2024, are moving forward with reintroduction in both chambers. Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told us they will file in the upper chamber, and House Commerce Subcommittee Chairman Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., said he’s authorized staff to file in the lower chamber (see 2501130057).

Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., told us Wednesday it’s “uncertain” if she will sign onto KOSA with Bilirakis, as she did in 2024. “We’ve got to talk about it first,” she said. “It’s uncertain. We haven’t had the chat yet. The committee is still getting organized.”

Guthrie told us the committee has to determine whether new legislation can be considered together with KOSA or separately. “What I will say is we are going to make it a priority to pass a privacy bill,” he said. “The question is: Is it going to be together or is it going to be separate with KOSA? We’re going to move forward on this in a way that works. We want to see something that works.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said previously he wants to get the “right” kids safety legislation signed into law. Guthrie said the privacy effort will be “member-driven,” and he plans to organize a working group “very soon.”

“There’s definitely going to be a pathway forward,” he said.

Asked if the House version of KOSA will need to be different from what passed the Senate in 2024, Guthrie said, “Obviously there’s got to be something different. We’re going to be member-driven, and we’ve got people on our committee who have worked on it before and who are going to continue to work and work with leadership and get a bill our conference can support. I don’t know what the details are because that’s what we’re going to create. We’re going to figure that out.”

Guthrie said nothing formal has been scheduled with Johnson’s office on privacy. Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, noted Republicans have had their hands full with reconciliation.

“We have a lot of work that’s going to get done, and I’m sure privacy will be on that list,” said Latta. Asked if his preference is to start over with new legislation, Latta said he’s not speaking for House Republican leadership or Guthrie, but ultimately House Commerce does a “good job of producing legislation,” echoing Guthrie’s remarks about the effort being member-driven.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said he’s waiting on word from Cruz about charting the course in the Senate. Moran was a member of the Senate Commerce Committee’s privacy working group under then-Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and then-ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss.

“We haven’t figured what’s the next step, but whatever it is will involve Ted Cruz,” said Moran. He said it would “make sense” for Cruz to introduce new legislation. “Particularly now that he’s the chairman, that would be kind of the mode. He’ll have his bill, his markup, and we’ll try to figure out how we participate in it with ideas we have.”