Amid some Republican pushback against Sen. Ted Cruz‘s efforts to gain unilateral subpoena power to haul Big Tech CEOs before his panel, the Senate Commerce chair now plans to compel testimony from an online service provider he argues has deplatformed conservatives.
Cruz, a Texas Republican, said in a social media post he intends to subpoena the communications firm Bonterra, which he investigated in his capacity as the committee ranking member in the previous Congress. He concluded the company stopped doing business with a conservative women’s group.
“Big Tech companies like Bonterra weaponized their terms of service to systematically deplatform conservatives,” Cruz said in a statement to POLITICO. “Unless we put a stop to Big Tech’s growing weaponization of standard terms of service, more conservatives may find themselves unable to carry out essential administrative work, harming the entire movement and depriving President Trump and his administration of critical allies and supporters.”
The announcement comes as Cruz is still trying to get committee Republicans to give him blanket authority to issue subpoenas without buy-in from members — a departure from the status quo, where chairs need sign-off from the ranking member or a vote by the full committee.
There have been ongoing private discussions among Commerce Committee Republicans about whether to give this power to Cruz, who has vowed to “use every available tool” to engage in oversight of Big Tech. He has already had the panel advance legislation earlier this month that would prohibit children under the age of 13 from using social media and prevent social media companies from using certain algorithms to target minors.
An attempt to move forward with the rules change was squelched last month amid concern from Trump administration officials, who are cozy with players in the industry. There’s still no resolution, meaning Cruz could have to rely on fellow Commerce Committee Republicans to vote in support of subpoenaing Bonterra. GOP members will probably give Cruz this victory, as the firm is not considered an industry giant with outsize influence.
Commerce Republicans have also expressed openness to giving Cruz more narrow authority to issue subpoenas without member interference, including on matters related to diversity, equity and inclusion practices during the Biden administration and illegal immigration.
Accordingly, Cruz this week said he would subpoena the Massachusetts Port Authority for documents related to migrants sheltering at Boston’s airport.
Bonterra didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
