Information Technology and Innovation
Foundation, and a veteran of Rhode Island
politics. “The only real question for them is what
to do about it.”
Cicilline’s evolution on unchecked monopoly
power followed the lead of another New
England Democrat, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of
Massachusetts. In mid-2016, Warren accused
Google, Apple and Amazon of using their online
platforms to snuff out competition, threatening
not just their competitors but democracy.
She has since rolled out a plan to break up the
companies. Cicilline calls that a “last resort.”
In 2017, Cicilline began dabbling in antitrust
policy as the ranking Democrat on the GOP-
run antitrust subcommittee and pushed
unsuccessfully for a hearing on how Amazon’s
acquisition of Whole Foods would affect both
consumers and workers. He consulted with
groups such as the Open Markets Institute, a think
tank that advocates breaking up monopolies.
This year, Cicilline hired Lina Khan, a top attorney
at Open Markets, to serve as a subcommittee
counsel. She declined comment for this story.
Cicilline and his Republican colleagues on the
subcommittee are standing up to “the most
powerful corporations we’ve seen in the world
for at least 100 years,” said Barry Lynn, director of
the Open Markets Institute.
West, the Brookings scholar, said Cicilline’s
unlikely leadership on this cause — as the
representative of a tiny state without a
significant tech sector — could work to his
advantage as the wealthy tech companies
mobilize their allies.
“He’s a pretty free agent on this type of topic,”
West said.
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