Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., appeared to signal a desire to issue subpoenas to technology executives following Democrats’ capture of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
Responding to a social media post that read “Live televised trials of Big Tech executives when?” Markey wrote, “They are going to need to plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we’ll be printing.”
Markey is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and also sits on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
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As ranking member, he’s poised to become the chairman of the small business committee when the Senate Democrats who won Tuesday are sworn in January.
Markey, who defeated Republican challenger John Deaton by a wide margin on Tuesday, will serve his third term in the Senate after serving 37 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Widely viewed as a progressive, Markey has positioned himself as a prominent critic of Big Tech.
In July, Markey released an “AI Accountability Agenda,” a package of legislation aimed at reducing the power that technology companies have in the U.S.
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He has compared the technology industry to oil companies, and often cites major corporations in the sector as impediments to his climate agenda, a flagship policy of his.
He has supported stricter curbs on data center buildouts, saying that Congress needs “to make sure these data centers don’t turn into pollution bombs.”
And he’s been a broad proponent of the Green New Deal, a policy framework that aims to combat climate change.
“The Green New Deal isn’t just a resolution, it is a revolution. We can transform our economy and our democracy for all Americans by addressing the generational challenge of climate change. We have the technology to do it. We have the economic imperative. We have the moral obligation. We just need the political will,” he said in 2021.
Markey is not the only Democrat that appears to be eyeing subpoenas.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., posted the singular word “subpoenas” in a late-night X post Tuesday.
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Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, also posted “LAWYER UP,” in a post on X.
Markey’s victory came amid a broader Democratic sweep as the party captured both chambers of Congress.
Sen. Markey’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
