Workforce
Altering Immigration Bill Risks Losing Senators’ Votes. Democrats and Republicans alike are seeking alterations in the Senate immigration proposal that may imperil the bill as the Judiciary Committee begins considering as many as 300 amendments. (Bloomberg)
Biden: Immigration fix this summer. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for passage of immigration reform legislation by the end of the summer. “As my grandpop would say, with the grace of God and the good will of neighbors, Congress will show the wisdom to pass the bipartisan immigration bill by the end of the summer,” Biden said, speaking at a gala dinner at the Washington Hilton. “They must.” (Politico)
Technology firms jealously guard worker visas in Senate immigration bill. Companies worry set of amendments would tack on additional rules. (The Hill)
Tougher Border Security Likely to Open Immigration Bill Markup. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday will kick off its expected weekslong markup of immigration overhaul legislation with a look at some of the more controversial amendments. (CQ/Roll Call)
Gay-rights issue may kill Gang of Eight’s immigration reform bill. A proposal to expand gay rights threatens a fragile, bipartisan agreement on immigration reform and a pillar of Obama’s agenda. (The Hill)
Facebook Joins Lobby for Overhauling Immigration. Some progressive groups are angry with Facebook for running ads supporting GOP lawmakers on board with the immigration overhaul bill. The left-wing groups have turned a blind eye to what Facebook gets out of the overhaul measure, and what it may cost American tech workers. (NPR)
Tax
Lawmakers seek public support for tax overhaul. The top two tax writers on Capitol Hill want to overhaul the federal tax code for the first time since 1986 and they are soliciting help from the public to help get it done. (USA Today)
Camp, House Republicans Consider Testing Tough Politics of Tax Overhaul. As House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp gets closer to introducing a major rewrite of the tax code, the question of how the legislation will play politically is looming larger than ever. (CQ/Roll Call)
Lawmakers Use Web To Request Help Simplifying Tax Code. Steve Inskeep talks with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana and House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp of Michigan about their bipartisan efforts to rewrite the tax code. On Thursday, the lawmakers launched TaxReform.gov in an effort to solicit direct input from Americans on simplifying the tax code. (NPR)
Cybersecurity & Privacy
DOJ: We don't need warrants for e-mail, Facebook chats. An FBI investigation manual updated last year, obtained by the ACLU, says it's possible to warrantlessly obtain Americans' e-mail "without running afoul" of the Fourth Amendment. (CNET)
Lawmakers eager to see Internet wiretap plan. Several senators said on Wednesday that they are eager to see the Obama administration's proposal to make it easier for police to intercept online communications as they occur. But the lawmakers said they will have to see a final version of the plan before they can say whether they will support it. (The Hill)
ECPA seeing things move from the right. Momentum to update the nation’s antiquated email privacy laws is again coursing through the Capitol — and this time movement is coming from the right. Republicans have been increasingly attaching their names to reforming the Electronic Communications Privacy Act — an issue where Democrats have traditionally taken the lead. (Politico Pro)
Huawei's CEO breaks silence, says company not connected to U.S. cyber threats. Ren Zhengfei, founder and CEO of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, defended the Chinese firm's stand on U.S. cyber-security concerns when he spoke to the media for the first time on Thursday, lifting a veil of secrecy surrounding the elusive executive. (Reuters)
'Open Data' Brings Potential and Perils for Government. Governments are rushing to embrace Open Data. However, the concept throws up many issues surrounding privacy, policy making and the uses to which data has been put. (WSJ)
Global Trade
Finance Aims For Froman Hearing This Month, Marantis To Leave Within Weeks. Deputy National Security Advisor Michael Froman this week began his outreach to members of the Finance Committee in advance of his nomination hearing to be the next U.S. Trade Representative, sources said. (Inside US Trade)
Environment & Sustainability
Congress Considers Patch To Keep Helium Supply Afloat. The Senate is considering legislation to prevent a global helium shortage from worsening in October. That's when the Federal Helium Program is set to terminate. (NPR)
How GE and a leading utility are changing the smart-grid game. The company worked with Florida Power and Light to complete a groundbreaking smart grid project sparked, in part, by an Obama stimulus grant. (GreenBiz.com)
Mobility
Calling Dibs on a Valuable Slice of the Spectrum. The federal government has worked to consolidate its spectrum holdings in recent years, auctioning off the 1710-1755 megahertz band in 2006 to a host of wireless carriers and planning for next year’s auction, which will include the 2155-2180 MHz band. (CQ/Roll Call)
Regulation
Apple demands Android source code in Samsung patent spat. In the name of "transparency," Apple has asked a judge to force Google to hand over elements of the Android OS source code. (ZDNet)
Tech Business
Cloud hangs over software old guard. The danger for the likes of SAP is that the market will split. On one side, this would leave a small number of large-scale cloud platform players – companies like Amazon and Microsoft that run the computing infrastructure on which the new cloud-delivered applications depend. On the other side, riding on these platforms, a wave of new cloud application companies is working hard to infiltrate through the cracks left by the monolithic software suites of companies such as SAP. (FT)
Mayer wants to kill Microsoft deal to partner with Google, sources say. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has attempted unsuccessfully to unravel a 10-year search-advertising pact with Microsoft in favor of a deal with Google, according to people familiar with the matter. (San Jose Mercury News)
Rackspace: Can it compete with Amazon Web Services? Rackspace's first quarter growth wasn't up to expectations. The company could be facing an AWS squeeze with enterprises and developers. (ZDNet)
Consumers Facing Subscription Service Overload Will Only Get More Choices. Consumers already have an abundance of choice when it comes to entertainment and news subscriptions. But analysts say it's still early days for all the digital subscription offerings we'll have to pay for. (NPR)
Huawei boss in first media interview. Ren Zhengfei, the founder of China's Huawei - the world's second-largest telecom equipment maker - speaks to the media for the first time. (BBC)
Toshiba: un-American activities. US investors seem especially wary of this diversified Japanese manufacturer. (FT)
Silicon Valley Group’s Political Effort Causes Uproar. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook helped create Fwd.Us, an advocacy group. The advocacy group Fwd.Us, created by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and others, has shocked some liberals with its tactics in a campaign to support immigration reform. (NYT)
Square raids Obama’s cabinet, eyes international expansion. San Francisco’s Square said Wednesday that it has hired away President Barack Obama’s acting United States Trade Representative to lead the growing mobile payments company’s international government, regulatory, and policy work. The hiring of Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios J. Marantis signals Square is setting up to significantly expand its international operations beyond Canada. (San Francisco Chronicle)