Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signaled Wednesday (Dec. 30) that the Senate would not be voting on the House-passed Bill (HR 9051) providing $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks -- a figure suggested by President Trump -- essentially adding the poison pill of Section 230 repeal to any vote on such relief, something Democrats signaled they weren't going to support.

Also Read: McConnell Remains Republican Leader

The Senate Majority Leader basically said that if the Democrats (and some Republicans) wanted that extra money, it would need to be tied to the elimination of Big Tech's Section 230 immunity from civil liability for moderation of third-party online posts and a review of election security, which the president, in agreeing to sign the COVID-19 aid and omnibus funding bills he had issues with, said were his priorities.

The president vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act in part because it failed to include language addressing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

In his opening remarks, McConnell said he had added language to the stimulus check bill addressing those two, including eliminating Section 230, but Democrats did not want to consider it.

Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he wanted to be clear that Democrats would not support packaging the checks with Section 230 or election integrity issues. He said those were partisan issues and, besides, there would be no time to vote on a Senate version and have the House, which has recessed, vote on it before the close of this Congress. "It is a way to kill the bill," he said. 

Also Read: McConnell Says Senate Will Look at Section 230

McConnell said Democrats were hoping everyone just forgets about election integrity and Big Tech, desperate to ignore those parts of the president's request for action when he agreed to sign the bills. He said his audience could draw their own conclusions about why they did so, leaving unsaid the suggestion that Democrats did not want to delve too deeply into the integrity of the recent election or Big Tech's alleged censorship of conservative speech, which Republicans say is a problem and Democrats say is a red herring.

"Here's the deal," said McConnell, "the Senate is not going to split apart the three issues that President Trump linked together -- $2,000 checks, Section 230 and election integrity -- that President Trump linked together because Democrats are afraid to address two of them."

The White House says it has gotten the supplemental background check on Supreme Court nominee judge Brett Kavanaugh and spokesman Raj Shah signaled that investigation has not changed the President's mind about his nominee. 

"This is the last addition to the most comprehensive review of a Supreme Court nominee in history, which includes extensive hearings, multiple committee interviews, over 1,200 questions for the record and over a half million pages of documents," said Shah in an emailed statement. "With this additional information, the White House is fully confident the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.” 

The White House said it was sending the report to the Senate, suggesting they have ample time to review it. The Judiciary Committee said the report would not be released to the public.

"As with all background investigation (BI) files, the file and the information therein is held confidential under a 2009 memorandum of understanding between the White House and the committee," said the office of Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). "All 100 senators and a very limited number of cleared committee staff can have access to the information in the BI file. This is how such files have been handled for several administrations.

Out of concern for potential leaks, the report will be held in the Office of Senate Security.

It is unclear whether that FBI check included interviews with either Kavanaugh or Christine Blasey Ford, who accused him of sexual assault and misconduct while both were in high school. There were reports late Wednesday (Oct. 3 that neither had been interviewed).

Senate Democrats have said that without an interview with Ford, they will not consider that check sufficient.

Ford's attorneys reportedly were withholding therapist logs and polygraph information from the Senate Judiciary Committee citing the FBI's failure to interview her.

On the Senate floor, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) said he had been briefed on the report and that there was "nothing new" and that "no witness can confirm any allegation against Kavanaugh." It was unclear just how many witnesses had been interviewed for the background check.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees communications issues, tweeted his support for Kavanaugh after his briefing.

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Related: Ex-WJLA Weatherman Enters Kavanaugh Nomination Picture

Kavanaugh has faced multiple accusations of sexual misconduct or assault, and questions have been raised about his truthfulness about how much he drank in high school and college and how much it affected him. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations and suggested while he liked beer, and still does, he did not drink to the point of blacking out or becoming belligerent.

While the White House said it was confident the Senate will confirm Kavanaugh, that looked anything but a sure bet, with key Republicans having yet to weigh in. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has scheduled a procedural vote for Friday, saying of the protesters buttonholing his members in the halls of Congress or their homes that "there is

The nomination has further divided Capitol Hill and the country, with protests from women's groups and a debate exploding on cable TV and social media as the #MeToo movement moves from board room and the screening room to the dorm room and a broader indictment of how many men have viewed and treated women.

Kavanaugh is well known in communications circles as a judge on the D.C. federal appeals court, which oversees FCC decision challenges. Kavanaugh is on the record saying the FCC's 2015 Open Internet order was illegal and should have been overturned.

While the FCC has repealed that order, a request that the Supreme Court hear the ISP appeal of the 2015 regulatory order remains before the High Court, though it is unclear whether that court will grant that hearing. If so, and if Kavanaugh's nomination is confirmed--an increasingly serious "if"--Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), has asked him to recuse himself, though Kavanaugh was not willing to agree to that, saying at his hearing that he would not comment on any decision that could come before the High Court.

The hill could give new meaning to broadband deployment.

Before heading out for its August recess, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow members of the armed services to terminate their cable, satellite or internet service when they are deployed without having to pay an early-termination fee.

Some states already have their own laws preventing the fees, and there are currently laws that let them get out of rental agreements, auto leases and cellphone contracts, but no national “get out of service free” card.

The bill (H.R. 2409) updates the cellphone contract portion of the Service Members Civil Relief Act to include pay TV and internet contracts.

Service members don’t have to pay an early termination fee if they are deployed or otherwise have to relocate for at least 90 days. They must return any provider-owned equipment within 10 days after their service, as in cable or internet service, is disconnected.

The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. It will have to move quickly to get a vote before the second week of August, as senators are expected to get a break the first week of the month for a home-state work period before returning.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) canceled the traditional August recess for that body, so they won’t be redeploying back to the districts beyond that work period.

The bill was co-sponsored by Reps. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.) and Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.).

“When service members and their families receive military orders to deploy or relocate, they should not have to face fees from internet, cable or other paid television service providers in their moving process,” Costello said.

A spokesperson for NCTA–The Internet & Television Association had no comment on the bill or whether any of its members already waive such fees, but a said number of operators provide job assistance and other help to veterans.

Two ranking members of Senate committees, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) of the Commerce Committee and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) of the Communications Subcommittee, Wednesday called again for a vote on the nomination of Democratic FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to a new term.

They were joined by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

While the Commerce Committee unanimously recommended her for a new term, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has yet to schedule a floor vote.

During what proved to be a bipartisan vote on an FCC reauthorization bill, Schatz said that was a fly in that bipartisan ointment. He said the Senate needs to do its job, and Nelson echoed that.

He pointed out, as had Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid in a floor statement two weeks ago, that McConnell had promised a vote when Democrats agreed to vote out Republican Mike O'Rielly last year. In a tradition that dates back to the Clinton Administration, Republican congressional leaders essentially get to pick Republican commissioners and Democratic leaders the Democrats.

Markey said he had planned to put a hold on O'Rielly's nomination but got "complete" assurances from Reid, who had gotten assurances from McConnell, that Rosenworcel would get a vote. Here we are now in April and no vote, he said, adding that he never would have relinquished his hold without the assurances from Republicans. He called on them to expedite the process and give her the "honor" of  being reconfirmed.

Rosenworcel's term has already expired, but she can serve until December.

Republican Commerce Committee chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) said the committee had done its job by reporting her out favorably for a vote, and that it was now up to the two Senate leaders. "We have done our part at this level to move it forward," he said.