Senate panel votes to subpoena Big Tech CEOs

The Senate Commerce Committee has voted to authorize subpoenas compelling Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai to testify before the panel.

Why it matters: The tech giants are yet again facing a potential grilling on Capitol Hill sometime before the end of the year, at a time when tech is being used as a punching bag from both the left and right.

Yes, but: The subpoenas will only be issued if the executives refuse to come voluntarily. The Commerce panel will first be reaching out to the companies to try to schedule a hearing, a committee aide told Axios.

Context: With Republicans centering their tech criticisms around claims that digital platforms stack the deck against conservatives, Democrats were expected to boycott today's subpoena vote. They did not.