With help from Gavin Bade and Alexandra S. Levine

PROGRAMMING NOTE: We'll be off for Thanksgiving this Thursday and Friday but back to our normal schedule on Monday, Nov. 29.

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Quick Fix

— Tech’s keeping tabs: The tech industry is keeping a close eye on Democrats’ $1.7 trillion social spending package. Here’s what the tech companies like — and what they don’t.

— Timing conundrum: The House and the Senate have agreed to reconcile competing bills meant to help the U.S. compete against China. But several details remain up in the air.

— Getting Meta: Among recently leaked internal Facebook documents was a post with comments on … how the company should respond to leaks.

IT’S MONDAY, NOV. 22. WELCOME BACK TO MORNING TECH! I’m your host, Benjamin Din. Over the weekend, House Science Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) announced that she, too, was retiring from Congress. She’s the 33rd member of Congress to announce they’re not going to run for reelection in 2022.

Got a news tip? Got retirement plans? Email [email protected] and find me on Twitter @benjamindin. Got an event for our calendar? Send details to [email protected]. Anything else? Team info below. And don’t forget: Add @MorningTech and @PoliticoPro on Twitter.

Tech of the Town

WHAT TECH WANTS TO BUILD BACK BETTER — House Democrats celebrated Friday with the passage of their partisan social spending package. But now it heads to the Senate, where Democrats have no margin of error in the evenly split chamber. Here are some provisions the tech industry is watching closely:

— Global taxes: The House bill contains international tax provisions that would “hamper the overall competitiveness of globally-engaged U.S. employers,” according to Jason Oxman, president and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, which counts Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft among its members. Among his concerns: a provision that would limit interest expense deductions and “discourage expansion,” and others that aim to bring the U.S. in line with the global deal for a 15 percent minimum corporate tax rate. Oxman cautioned that setting this tax floor before other signatory countries had done so could put the U.S. at a disadvantage.

“As negotiations continue, it is imperative that lawmakers consider the essential role the U.S. international tax system plays in supporting the ability of the U.S. to compete on a global stage and promote innovation,” Oxman said.

— Immigration: One tech industry group applauded the House bill for its immigration provisions amid Congress’ inability to pass an overhaul of immigration laws, an issue important to tech companies that rely on foreign talent. Linda Moore, president and CEO of TechNet, said those provisions “are the first solutions in decades that give immigrant populations, like Dreamers, needed stability and peace of mind, while providing businesses the immediate relief needed to fill vacancies that will spur innovation and strengthen our economy.”

That is, if those provisions make it into the Senate version of the bill. Senate Democrats hope to pass the bill via a simple majority through a process known as budget reconciliation, in which the Senate parliamentarian determines whether key components of the bill have direct effects on the government’s budget. Whether that immigration language will get to stay is still TBD. (She’s rejected two previous immigration proposals.)

— Climate change: Moore also praised climate provisions in the Democratic effort, calling them a “historic effort.” She specifically highlighted the push to increase funding for electric vehicles and EV charging infrastructure, which she said “will cut emissions, increase sustainability and improve the health of our planet.”

But U.S. allies and foreign automakers vehemently oppose key provisions of proposed electric vehicle tax credits, which would provide an additional $4,500 to the existing $7,500 credit for consumers who purchase electric vehicles made with American union labor. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the tax credits a focus of his visit to the U.S. last week, arguing it would violate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement by discriminating against Canadian-made cars.

That squabble may be resolved in the Senate, where key swing vote Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has said he opposes the credits. Earlier this month, he told Automotive News that the $4,500 credit “can’t happen,” as he visited a Toyota plant in his state.

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE CHINA BILLS? — The Senate also still has to finish up work on its plan to boost U.S. competitiveness against China.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last week sought to force the House to move on his U.S. Innovation and Competition Act by including the Senate’s version in the annual defense authorization bill. But after some in the House objected, he relented and struck a deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold a conference committee to mesh the two China bills.

When that will happen is still unclear. The House has passed some parts of its China-targeting package, such as bills to enhance U.S. science funding, but the anchor of its package, the EAGLE Act, hasn’t gotten time on the floor yet. With the House in recess until after Thanksgiving, that doesn’t appear imminent. And lawmakers could be in for a messy process to reconcile the House and Senate packages, since the two chambers have already had disagreements.

— What’s at stake: Among the provisions in the China package is a $52 billion boost to domestic semiconductor manufacturing, a fix that lawmakers hope will help address the global chips shortage. Some have floated the possibility of removing the chips funding from the legislation and adding it to the defense bill, although other lawmakers are concerned that move could jeopardize the chances of the China package as a whole, given the chips provision has broad bipartisan support.

From the Facebook Papers

WELL, THIS IS META — Facebook workers were at odds over how the company should handle employees who leak internal documents long before whistleblower Frances Haugen came forward last month. Records from January 2020, leaked by Haugen and analyzed by MT, reveal heated debate among the rank and file after The New York Times published a polarizing internal memo from Andrew Bosworth, who launched and oversees Facebook’s (now, Meta’s) augmented and virtual reality arm.

Staffers expressed anger that leakers among them were compromising their company culture, which encourages openness and the sharing of opinions (and was a key factor in Haugen being able to take so many company documents), especially on internal workplace Facebook walls.

“This is our company,” one worker wrote. “Respect it and our transparency.”

Others asked what could be done to stop people from leaking or taking screenshots of confidential information. “Maybe realizing that leaking this will end up slowing us down as a company and hurt our stock price/their equity?” one employee replied.

“Anonymized public shaming could be a great strategy to deter leaks,” another wrote, calling for Facebook to publish quarterly stats on leak investigations, and how many people were fired as a result, to “make it known that they’re gone.”

“Right, we just put some guillotines around so people who never leak will be scared,” one colleague responded, “and people who leak will be s— scared and ask journalists [for] more money for their leaks.” (We’ll note: Reputable U.S. news organizations do not pay sources to leak information.)

“I don’t think there is a known answer to the question of how to prevent leaks while maintaining an open culture in a company this large,” another replied. “Google did their best, but ultimately they ended up moving to a closed culture with minimal transparency.” The person urged Facebook to “retain the open culture in spite of leaks.”

Meta spokesperson Erin McPike told MT the company has been assessing its approach to information sharing across the company, with an eye toward “balancing openness with sharing relevant information. … This is a work in progress and we are committed to an open culture for the company.”

— ICYMI: The Verge had a story last week about the ways Meta is locking down following a wave of leaks at the company.

Transitions

The FTC announced new additions to its Office of Policy Planning: Amba Kak will be a senior adviser on artificial intelligence. She was most recently director of global policy at NYU’s AI Now Institute and was a global policy adviser at Mozilla. John Kwoka will be chief economist to Chair Lina Khan. He joins the FTC from Northeastern University, where he is an economics professor who has focused on merger policy and antitrust, and is an FTC, DOJ antitrust and FCC alum. Sarah Myers West will be an adviser on artificial intelligence. She was a research scholar at the AI Now Institute. Olivier Sylvain will be senior adviser on technology to Khan. He is a law professor at Fordham University and is considered a Section 230 expert. Meredith Whittaker will be senior adviser on artificial intelligence to Khan. She comes from NYU, where she has served as faculty director of the AI Now Institute, and is the founder of Google’s Open Research Group.

Matt David is now chief comms officer at Crypto.com, overseeing global comms and government affairs. He most recently was chief external affairs officer at Juul Labs, and is a Bush, Schwarzenegger, Huntsman and Edelman alum. … Janessa Lopez is joining Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange company, as senior associate of public policy. She previously was a legislative assistant for Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

Silicon Valley Must-Reads

On the hunt: “The Amazon lobbyists who kill US consumer privacy protections,” via Reuters.

Pushed back after pushback: Meta is delaying its rollout of encrypted messages on Facebook and Instagram to 2023, The Guardian reports.

Tracking hate: “Facebook’s race-blind policies around hate speech came at the expense of Black users, new documents show.” More from WaPo.

Follow the money: Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and Square, is donating billions, and he's using his celebrity network to do it. Bloomberg has more.

ICYMI: “Shopping online surged during Covid. Now the environmental costs are becoming clearer.” More from POLITICO's Catherine Boudreau.

Quick Downloads

New ideas: Should the federal government establish a service academy to train future digital civil servants? The Government Accountability Office explored the issue.

Not a fan: Lawmakers should reject provisions in the social spending package that would establish a new privacy bureau under the FTC and expand its civil penalty authority, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote to the leaders of the Senate and House's commerce committees.

No service: Tesla suffered a global app server outage, which prevented owners from connecting to their cars, Electrek reports.

ICYMI: “Leaked document reveals FTC’s rules on ‘zombie’ votes,” Leah reports for Pros.

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