Schumer says antitrust bill will be brought for a vote

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to call Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) antitrust bill targeting tech giants to a floor vote, according to a spokesperson for the top Democrat.

“Sen. Schumer is working with Sen. Klobuchar and other supporters to gather the needed votes and plans to bring it up for a vote,” the spokesperson said in a statement. 

The spokesperson, however, did not provide a timeline for the vote. 

Klobuchar told Politico, which first reported on the statement, that Schumer committed to a vote “in the fall” but said she didn’t have an exact date.

In an interview on MSNBC Klobuchar said Schumer “strongly supports this bill” and that she met with him Thursday to talk about having this vote in the fall. She said the Senate is not able to hold the vote this week due to other major votes on deck. 

“But I am so proud of the coalition we put together. We can’t let this go,” she said.

Klobuchar and Grassley had been pushing for a floor vote on the bill, which aims to prevent tech giants from preferencing their own products and services over rivals’, before the Senate leaves for recess.

The bill advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year with bipartisan support. 

The statement from Schumer’s office comes after Bloomberg reported last week that the senator told donors he doesn’t think the bill has the votes to pass.

Although the statement did not provide a clear timeline, news of the the Senate majority leader’s plans was cheered by advocacy groups backing the bill.

“Signaling an imminent floor vote is a statement of intent and brings us one step closer to passing historic antitrust reform that will improve our economy, give control of the internet back to users, and protect vulnerable children and families,” Sacha Haworth, executive director of the Tech Oversight Project, said in a statement. 

— Updated at 5:30 p.m.