With help from Steven Overly, John Hendel and Margaret Harding McGill

TICK, TICK, SHUTDOWN? — Congress has until midnight today to approve funding for the government, but uncertainty over DACA negotiations has everyone on tenterhooks about whether some kind of agreement can be reached. If the government does go into shutdown mode, all federal agencies would see some paring back of their activity, POLITICO’s Louis Nelson reports. Here’s MT’s rundown on the latest contingency plans posted by the Office of Management and Budget for the FCC and FTC.

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— FCC: The Federal Communications Commission updated its plan for an “orderly shutdown” in early December. The chairman and four commissioners will continue to work, as will up to 227 employees, including those who work on spectrum-auction activities and those deemed necessary to protect “life and property.” The remaining 1,265 employees, or about 85 percent of the workforce, will be sent home on furlough, according to the plan. An FCC spokesman referred inquiries about whether the agency is further updating its plan to OMB.

And a net neutrality twist: The shutdown could further delay litigation over the FCC’s decision to repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules. Although some advocates of the repealed rules have filed preliminary lawsuits, the expected legal battle won’t begin in earnest until after the rollback is published in the Federal Register. A shutdown could slow publication, pushing back the trigger for litigation.

— FTC: The Federal Trade Commission also updated its plan in early December. The agency’s acting chairman and its lone commissioner are slated to continue working. The commission noted that the exact number of furloughed employees would vary, though its illustration of a potential shutdown scenario estimated that roughly 23 percent, or more than 260 employees, would stay on duty. Among staff who could be excepted from furlough are those needed to help litigate cases that the agency is unable to secure stays or extensions for.

— An outlier: As Nancy reported for Patent Politics, the Patent Office differs from its federal agency kin by being entirely fee-supported, which makes it something of a special case when these funding battles pop up. And back in 2013, on the cusp of a shutdown that would go on to last two weeks, the PTO's then-acting director explained to employees how and why the agency wouldn't be closing along with the rest of Washington. "Because the USPTO maintains sufficient carryover funding from prior fiscal years, our agency can and will stay open for business for a period of time using these available reserves," acting director Teresa Stanek Rea told Patent Office employees in an email back then. "During that time we will all continue to conduct our duties and serve our Nation, by processing the patent and trademark applications that drive our country's innovative economy." It's a good bet that the USPTO adopts that same sort of approach this time around.

CARR’S ROAD TO RECONFIRMATION — Democrats all opposed reconfirmation of GOP FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr over Carr’s part in net neutrality repeal, but don’t necessarily expect the same partisan ire on the floor. Despite Thursday’s 14-13 party-line Senate Commerce Committee vote on Carr, Democrats would “very likely” be more receptive to advancing Carr’s reconfirmation for a full five-year term if he’s paired with the right Democratic FCC nominee, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told John. “We want to observe the bipartisan tradition of the committee, which is to pair these nominees,” Schatz said. Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) also says he wasn’t surprised by the committee party-line vote and is optimistic Carr faces a smoother ride on the Senate floor. Democrats refused Carr a full term last year in hope of pairing him with a Democrat in the future.

— What we don’t know: who the paired Democratic nominee might be and when this becomes a possibility. Democratic FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn has been the subject of rumors about imminent departure, but there’s no sense whether Democrats have coalesced around who they may want to replace her and how long it may take for the White House to nominate that successor, if it defers to Democrats’ choice.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR — There’s now a date being floated for the Senate Commerce Committee’s hearing on emergency alerts, which will take place in the wake of a false alert about an incoming missile sent out in Hawaii last weekend, John reports. The panel has plans to review the issue as soon as Jan. 25, according to Thune, with the FCC likely represented. “We want to do it soon, we want to do it before the end of the month,” he said.

— House Republicans, meanwhile, say the emergency alerts hearing they plan for the coming weeks will double as an FCC oversight hearing, featuring several agency commissioners. “We’re planning to have them all there,” House Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) told John, recounting his call to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on the night of Hawaii’s incident and stressing his desire to figure out what broke down. “I almost guarantee you I’m the only chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee that’s ever wired in an emergency alert system in a radio station.” Walden spent more than two decades as a radio station owner in Oregon.

— Also look for Pai at this year’s CPAC meeting in February, according to American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, who tweets: “Raise your over-sized Reese's coffee mugs and come celebrate his courage and common sense.” Pai attended in 2015 as commisioner.

PAI MAINTAINS BROADBAND SPEED — The FCC’s Democrats acknowledged that Pai’s 2018 Broadband Deployment Report isn’t as bad as they feared. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel tweeted she’s glad the agency dropped the “crazy idea” of lowering the broadband speed benchmark, while Clyburn said the report is now “correctly concluding” that mobile broadband is not a substitute for a home connection. But both faulted the report’s finding that the FCC is fulfilling its mandate to encourage broadband deployment in a reasonable and timely manner, pointing to the 24 million Americans they say the report finds lack access to high-speed internet service. (The full report has not been made public, and the FCC’s fact sheet doesn’t have data on connectivity). The FCC’s 2016 Broadband Progress Report found that 34 million people lacked access to broadband.

— Pai said the FCC has taken actions to reduce barriers to infrastructure investment and promote competition, and the agency is heading in the right direction. But he said there’s still work to do because “far too many Americans still lack access to high-speed internet.”

— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) also revealed Thursday that she requested a Government Accountability Office report probing the access and quality of broadband for small businesses.

IMMIGRATION BILL COMING NEXT WEEK — Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is slated to re-introduce the Immigration Innovation Act, also known as I-Squared. Past iterations of the bill (S.153) have called for a broad range of changes to U.S. immigration policy, including an increase in the cap on H1-B visas for workers with in-demand skills. Hatch said the bill has been “newly updated” for this session, though he did not elaborate on what those changes are. The bill is likely to win the backing of the tech industry, which has long complained that the U.S. doesn’t graduate enough people with science or technology degrees to meet its employment needs. But with Congress already in fisticuffs over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and funding for border security, it’s unclear whether a broader immigration bill like I-Squared can gain traction. The White House, for its part, has called for reforms to the H1-B visa selection process to ensure they’re awarded to immigrants with truly exceptional skills.

BRIEFS ROLL IN FOR MSFT CASE — A host of tech and business groups including BSA | The Software Alliance, ACT | The App Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are backing Microsoft’s arguments in a Supreme Court case examining the ability for U.S. authorities to compel companies to grant access to data that’s stored abroad. The groups argue that U.S. government’s efforts to gain data stored outside U.S. borders could ultimately be in breach of the laws of other countries. “While a company would be required under U.S. law to export data from foreign nations and produce it to U.S. authorities, that same conduct will often violate foreign law,” they write. As Steven reported, Sens. Hatch and Chris Coons (D-Del.) were among the lawmakers to argue that the matter should be settled by legislators, not the courts.

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we feel like it’s necessary to be dramatic about the cold, given our west coast roots. Send your tech and telecom tips to lzhou@politico.com and @liszhou. Catch the rest of the team’s contact info after Quick Downloads.

Got an event for MT’s tech calendar? Email us the details at techcalendar@politicopro.com.

Driverless Cars: Who’s Making Sure They’re Safe — At the Washington Auto Show, POLITICO will host a live panel to compare approaches on autonomous vehicle regulation. Speakers include Gov. Rick Snyder (R-Mich.) and Richard Threlfall, Partner and Global Head of Infrastructure at KPMG International. All registered attendees will gain full access to attend The Washington Auto Show on Jan. 25. Jan 25, 2018 — Doors open 11:30 a.m. — Walter E. Washington Convention Center — 801 Mt. Vernon Place NW

** A message from Samsung: The Inside Scoop on Samsung’s Latest U.S. Investment - Tony Fraley, plant manager of Samsung’s new U.S. manufacturing facility, discusses steps taken to launch their latest venture and what's next. http://politi.co/2muKJcH **

PORTMAN URGES SESTA VOTE — Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) took to the Senate floor again on Thursday to urge lawmakers to put the anti-sex-trafficking measure (S. 1693 (115)) to a vote. “It has the majority of the Republicans on board. It has the majority of the Democrats on board,” he said. “Every day we don’t act, there are more women and more children who are being trafficked unnecessarily.” The bill now has over 65 cosponsors, meaning it has the votes needed to pass the upper chamber.

THE AMAZON SHORTLIST — Cities across the country (plus one in Canada) cheered the tech giant’s decision to consider them as potential locations for its highly anticipated HQ2, which is expected to bring up to 50,000 new jobs. “Over the coming weeks, we look forward to working more closely with @amazon to show them why Music City would be the perfect fit for their company,” Nashville Mayor Megan Barry tweeted. Some regional leaders have also faced pressure to offer more details about what incentives some of these often secretive bids include. Amazon on Thursday announced it had narrowed down the contenders from 238 locations to 20 finalists that include Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

TECHNET PRESSES FOR PRESERVATION OF ENTREPRENEUR RULE — TechNet, a trade group representing companies including Google, Facebook and Amazon, is urging the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director to preserve a rule that would grant foreign entrepreneurs temporary parole as they try to grow their companies in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security has previously delayed activation of the rule, though a federal judge in December determined that it should take effect. As Pro Labor’s Ted Hesson reported, DHS has a proposal in the works aimed at rescinding the rule. “Our nation should continue encouraging entrepreneurs from around the world to start companies and grow jobs in the United States,” TechNet President Linda Moore writes. “As part of achieving this goal, the administration should allow the International Entrepreneur Rule to take full effect this year.”

SILICON VALLEY MUST-READS —

— Uber seals SoftBank deal: “A group of investors led by SoftBank closed a deal with Uber Technologies Inc on Thursday, making SoftBank the largest stakeholder in the ride-services firm and providing a much-needed boost to controversy-ridden Uber,” Reuters reports. … Also in Uber news: Bloomberg has some colorful details on how former CEO Travis Kalanick pulled out of President Donald Trump’s now-defunct Strategic and Policy Forum.

— Qualcomm gets greenlight on semiconductor acquisition: “Qualcomm Inc. on Thursday said it won antitrust approval in the European Union and South Korea for its $39 billion acquisition of NXP Semiconductors NV after agreeing to a package of measures to assuage regulators’ competition concerns,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

— Apple gives users more agency over battery issue: CEO Tim Cook told ABC News that users will have the option to disable the feature that slows down phone batteries.

TRANSITIONS — “Lindsay Elin, previously head of community affairs at Uber Technologies, Inc. is joining Facebook as director of external affairs, based in the company’s D.C. office,” according to a company spokesman. “Elin will manage a team responsible for working to establish relationships and create partnerships with think tanks, policy advocacy organizations and other third-party groups.” … Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced the appointment of Nirali Patel as special counsel. … Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has added Will Adams as legal adviser for wireless issues and Andi Roane as staff assistant.

QUICK DOWNLOADS

What’s next for Amazon Studios: “Amazon.com Inc , which has made waves in recent years buying art-house movies at the Sundance Film Festival, is heading to the prestigious event this week with a long-term change in the works: It plans to shift resources from independent films to more commercial projects,” Reuters reports.

Crypto corner: “The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has questioned the prospects of bitcoin exchange-traded funds saying there are a significant number of investor protection issues about cryptocurrencies and related products that need to be examined,” Reuters reports.

Snap cuts: “Snapchat parent Snap Inc. laid off roughly two dozen people across 8 different teams on Thursday,” Cheddar reports.

Pods just for cleaning!: YouTube and Facebook are curbing videos promoting a challenge where people eat or pretend to eat Tide laundry detergent pods, Engadget reports.

Tips, comments, suggestions? Send them along via email to our team: Eric Engleman (eengleman@politico.com, @ericengleman), Angela Greiling Keane (agreilingkeane@politico.com, @agreilingkeane), Nancy Scola (nscola@politico.com, @nancyscola), Margaret Harding McGill (mmcgill@politico.com, @margarethmcgill), Ashley Gold (agold@politico.com, @ashleyrgold), Steven Overly (soverly@politico.com, @stevenoverly), John Hendel (jhendel@politico.com, @JohnHendel) and Li Zhou (lzhou@politico.com, @liszhou)

** A message from Samsung: What’s Samsung’s New Years Resolution? Learn how Samsung envisions using their new $380 million facility to work with South Carolina and make America an industry leader in manufacturing. http://politi.co/2muKJcH **