Blog

New Talks in the Senate Present a Pathway for High-Skilled Immigration Reform

May 9, 2022 | Luke Hogg

For decades, immigration reform has been a white whale for Congress. Despite bipartisan legislative efforts, executive branch buy-in, and broad agreement that the current system is broken, immigration reform legislation has proven elusive. Now that a bipartisan group of Senators has once again begun legislative discussions on the topic, there may soon be opportunities to

Lincoln Studio Launches BIPBounty.org

May 5, 2022 | Brandon Detweiler

Lincoln Studio is proud to announce the launch of BIPBounty.org, a new project to support the open source development of Bitcoin. This new project incentivizes the research development and vetting of Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs) by creating a system for crowdsourcing tax-deductible bug bounties and distributing them to bounty winners. Lincoln Network has partnered with

April 27, 2022 | Luke Hogg

As if like clockwork, the beginning of campaign season means that immigration is once again taking center stage in Washington. Amidst record breaking migration at the southern border and President Biden’s decision to end the Title 42 public health order, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, have been thrust back

How (Not) to Waste A Crisis

April 21, 2022 | Evan Swarztrauber

In 2008, with the economy in free-fall, then-chief of staff to president-elect Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, told the Wall Street Journal, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” The line has become

April 11, 2022 | Zach Graves

Lincoln Network is excited to announce two new members of its board of directors starting in May: Mike Solana, vice president at Founders Fund; and Laurent Crenshaw, global head of policy at Patreon. Mike Solana Mike is a vice president at Founders Fund focused on community and brand. He runs creative programming including Symposium (F50),

April 11, 2022 | Zach Graves

Lincoln Network is thrilled to announce the appointment of two nonresident senior fellows: Roslyn Layton and Jimmy Soni. Each brings a wealth of expertise in tech and innovation and policy, augmenting Lincoln’s growing roster of experts. Roslyn Layton Roslyn Layton, PhD is an international technology expert who explains the economics, security, and geopolitics of broadband

Lincoln’s voice

March 23, 2022 | Zach Graves

Dear friend of Lincoln: I wanted to share a brief note to update you about how our approach to policy is evolving. When I started Lincoln’s policy team in 2018, it was a team of one. Even when we expanded a little, it didn’t make sense at the time to differentiate our individual views from

March 22, 2022 | Luke Hogg

With little chance of passage, are progressives attacking or feinting moderates? Over the past few years, lawmakers have considered tightening rules around mergers and acquisitions (M&As) as a way to rein in Big Tech’s bigness. Last week, in a rather unexpected move, progressives in Congress unveiled their counter to previous antitrust legislation. The bicameral Prohibiting

March 3, 2022 | Luke Hogg

Earlier this week, Antonio García Martínez sat down with Saurabh Sharma and Nick Solheim of American Moment to discuss the early days of Facebook, the invention of ad-targeting, and what’s in store for the future internet, cryptocurrencies, and nation-states. Learn more about Antonio and his work here, and check out American Moment on their website

February 22, 2022 | Luke Hogg

In a rather unusual move, the Committee on House Administration (CHA) — whose primary jurisdiction is oversight and “the day-to-day operations of the House of Representatives” — recently held a hearing to discuss data privacy. While the first tranche of witness testimony was centered around the Government Publishing Office’s treatment of personally identifiable information, the

February 11, 2022 | Geoff Cain

At one time, the chipset cemented America’s position as a preeminent technological power. From the 1950s to 1970s, the US government and semiconductor companies like Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel worked together to turn America into the world’s biggest manufacturer of semiconductors. Semiconductors were the technological foundation of the Apollo missions, the first heat-seeking missiles and

Policy Update for October-December 2021

February 2, 2022 | Dan Lips

Re: Lincoln Policy Team Activities for Q4 2021 Dear friend of Lincoln: As 2021 comes to a close, I’d like to share with you some of our policy team’s recent work, covering a range of issues from tech regulation, improving government accountability, and modernizing governance. Lincoln Network co-founder and chairman Garrett Johnson announced our new

January 31, 2022 | Luke Hogg

Following months of disagreement between federal regulators on 5G rollout in the C-Band, Congress has finally decided to step in. On February 3rd, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will hold a hearing to examine 5G deployment and aviation safety. Last November, I argued that this dispute was a prime area for Congress to

January 21, 2022 | Dan Lips

Empowering members to engage in bipartisan fact-finding has the potential to reinvigorate Congress’s oversight authority under the Constitution Summary Since 2019, the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress has developed a successful track record of passing bipartisan recommendations that are resulting in real changes to improve the way that Congress works. An October

January 20, 2022 | Luke Hogg

The long awaited 5G rollout was once again delayed Wednesday due to ongoing disagreement between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over potential spectrum interference. Two weeks ago, it appeared that the disagreement had been resolved. But a last minute push by the airline industry to block the plan forced

Announcing the Inaugural FACET Cohort

January 12, 2022 | Zach Graves

We are excited to announce two new members of the Lincoln Network team through our Fellowship on Advancing Critical Emerging Technologies (FACET). The two full-time Senior Fellows in the FACET program will be based in Washington, DC, and work closely with our team to translate academic ideas into actionable policies that advance American innovation. The

January 5, 2022 | Luke Hogg

The Senate Banking Committee met late last year to discuss stablecoins. Among others, Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) voiced strong criticisms of stablecoins and decentralized finance (DeFi). Few likely expected the hearing to yield concrete policy proposals. That was until Ranking Member Pat Toomey’s (R-Pa.) opening remarks. A noted advocate for

January 4, 2022 | Lars Schönander

The United States Senate does not maintain a centralized repository for information about its committee proceedings that includes links to the videos. Our new website, https://www.senatecommitteehearings.com/, is our effort to address this issue and surface video from committee proceedings. Background The Senate publishes basic information about all upcoming meetings on this webpage. It is only

December 12, 2021 | Garrett Johnson

The new year is a time for new beginnings, and that’s especially true here at Lincoln Network as we start 2022. I will be moving into a non-executive leadership role as chairman of the board of directors, where I will be joined by my co-founder Aaron Ginn. This will allow us to remain involved in shaping Lincoln’s

December 8, 2021 | Dan Lips

The House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress is building a track record of bipartisan success with nearly two-thirds of its recommendations from the 116th Congress being enacted to date. On Wednesday, the Select Committee passed its latest series of recommendations–including several proposals that would reform the way that Congress works with the Government

November 23, 2021 | Brandon Detweiler

Due to lack of clarity on regulations from the SEC, and not being publicly open and supportive of the innovation happening in the crypto space (especially DeFi) the US is already missing the opportunity to advance what America has always been…the country where entrepreneurship, innovation, and advancement overflow and the GO-TO place for the greatest inventors, technologists, and innovators from around the world, bringing ever growing prosperity to all. It’s time to stop trying to apply laws that are almost 100 years old and embrace the future.

November 19, 2021 | Luke Hogg

A new interagency report from the President’s Working Group (PWG) on Financial Markets regarding stablecoins was intended to provide policymakers a clear path forward in handling this fledgling industry. Instead, it raises more questions than it answers. The report does an excellent job of laying out the benefits and risks of stablecoins to financial markets

November 17, 2021 | Luke Hogg

A disagreement between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on spectrum interference has hit a wall leaving plans to roll out a 5G frequency band in limbo. Wireless carriers had originally planned to begin rollout of 5G services on December 5th, but agreed to a one month delay as the FAA

November 16, 2021 | Dan Lips

But Congress’s watchdog has the potential to do more to make government work better The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its annual Performance and Accountability report this week. The Comptroller General reported that the Congressional Watchdog agency’s work resulted in “about $66.2 billion in financial benefits—a return of about $93 for every dollar invested in

A Review of Industrial Policy Books

November 16, 2021 | Lars Schönander

Below you can find part of our review of the literature on industrial strategy, developmental states, and innovation policy. The list of essays and texts ranges from more academic works to historical overviews of countries that succeeded in economic development. Hopefully these works can provide a starting point for others interested in learning about industrial

November 10, 2021 | Zach Graves

WASHINGTON (Nov. 10, 2021) – Lincoln Network is excited to announce the hiring of Antonio García Martínez as senior fellow on its policy team. In this role, he will focus on the intersection of technology, media, and digital free expression. Antonio brings a wealth of experience to Lincoln, having been the founder of a YC-backed

November 8, 2021 | Luke Hogg

But would blocking M&As starve the Big Tech beast, or hamstring their future competitors by weakening the startup ecosystem? Last Thursday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Min.) — Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights — introduced new legislation targeting Big Tech companies’ ability to engage in mergers and acquisitions (M&As). This

October 27, 2021 | Luke Hogg

Innovative and disruptive technologies are often confusing by their very nature. Without some prior frame of reference, understanding whether and how to regulate these technologies can be even more challenging. Nowhere is this phenomenon more clear than with cryptocurrency and other digitally native financial assets. A new high level policy proposal from one of the

October 14, 2021 | Luke Hogg

But is it doubling down on the House’s flawed approach? Following the House Judiciary Committee’s introduction of its package of bills to address alleged anticompetitive practices in the tech industry back in June, Senate Judiciary Committee members Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have announced the first in a series of long awaited companion

Policy Update for July-September 2021

October 2, 2021 | Zach Graves

Re: Lincoln Policy Team Activities for Q3 2021 Dear friend of Lincoln: Our work is only possible thanks to the ongoing support of our friends and donors. With this in mind, I’d like to thank the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for supporting Lincoln’s mission through a new $1 million, multi-year grant. This

September 29, 2021 | Dan Lips

The Hassan-Ernst bill would rescind $1.5 billion from a fund Congress terminated decades ago While Congress is focused on the debt limit and trillion-dollar spending packages, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) continues to highlight opportunities for lawmakers and federal agencies to save “tens of billions” implementing the nonpartisan watchdog’s recommendations for reforming the government. And

September 22, 2021 | Zach Graves

FACET — Fellowship on Advancing Critical Emerging Technologies Lincoln Network is excited to announce a new resident fellowship program at the intersection of national security and emerging technologies. Fellows will spend a year working with our team in Washington, DC to translate academic ideas to actionable policies that advance American innovation. The program will focus

September 2, 2021 | Dan Lips

Lincoln Network’s Project Nickel will change that by showing per-student spending by school With students across the country heading back to school, it’s a good time to take a look at what the American public thinks about the state of K-12 education. A new survey released by Ed Choice and Braun Research finds that parents

September 1, 2021 | Zach Graves

We’re excited announce Lincoln Network’s second cohort of Policy Hackers–10 tech professionals from around the country passionate about helping bridge the gap between innovators and policymakers. Fellows will remain in their current roles while engaging with policy experts, lobbyists, academics, and government officials throughout the year-long program. The programming is aimed at helping fellows build

On Bitcoin and Border Security

August 26, 2021 | Dan Lips

How El Salvador’s plan to make crypto legal tender might change the “push”and “pull” factors The crisis at the U.S. southern border continues unabated with Customs and Border Protection reporting a more than three-fold increase in encounters at the border compared to last year. While 2020 was a down year for illegal border crossings (perhaps

August 3, 2021 | Dan Lips

The House of Representatives passed the Legislative Branch funding bill last week–increasing funding for Congress, the Capitol Police, and related agencies by nearly 14 percent over last year’s budget. For fiscal conservatives concerned about the ballooning federal debt, this is one area of the budget where we should be cheering for more funding than less.

The Case for a Longevity Moonshot

July 27, 2021 | Bonnie Kavoussi

As the government debates spending more money on community college and the child tax credit, there is one form of government spending that could significantly improve the lives of every single person on earth. It’s time for the U.S. government to devote significant resources to finding a cure for aging and extending the human lifespan.

July 21, 2021 | Zach Graves

Lincoln Network is excited to announce a major new multi-year grant to expand its policy and programming provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. As we begin 2021, conflict over the future of technology has reached a fevered pitch. Today, millions of Americans are coming to understand what Lincoln Network has said

Policy Update for April-June 2021

July 6, 2021 | Zach Graves

The following post was originally set as an email newsletter to our friends and supporters. Re: Lincoln Policy Team Activities for Q2 Dear friend of Lincoln: I’d like to share with you some of our team’s recent outputs, covering a range of issues from technology governance, to national security, to congressional modernization and the future of oversight.

June 28, 2021 | Dan Lips

State and local governments are facing growing cyber threats. From ransomware attacks to data breaches, local governments are on the frontlines of the global cyber conflict that remains a top national security threat, according to the Director of National Intelligence. Like all organizations, state and local governments have limited resources to manage cybersecurity risks. Nationally,