Most Senate Commerce Democrats Likely to Vote Down NTIA Nominee Roth on Wednesday
Communications policy-focused lobbyists and other observers expect most Senate Commerce Committee Democrats will vote against advancing NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth on Wednesday, they told us. Democrats’ criticism of Roth won't ultimately threaten her prospects, though, as observers said they expect Senate Commerce Republicans to almost uniformly support her. Senate Commerce's meeting to vote on Roth will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell. Lawmakers and observers said they expect Democrats to be equally, if not more, critical of Republican FCC nominee Olivia Trusty during a confirmation hearing that will immediately follow the Roth vote (see 2504080066).
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Roth can already count on support from 14 of Senate Commerce’s 15 GOP members, but lobbyists noted that Republicans’ strong backing for her confirmation has always been a foregone conclusion because of her experience as their telecom policy director. Senate Communications Chair Deb Fischer of Nebraska is the lone Republican holdout, but even she indicated in an interview that she's open to backing Roth. “There are still some questions” Roth needs to respond to as part of Senate Commerce members’ follow-up written queries, “but we had a good hearing” with good discussion on telecom policy matters, Fischer told us.
Fischer attended only part of Roth’s hearing but submitted questions about the nominee's views on the debate over whether Congress should mandate reallocation of some DOD-controlled spectrum bands for commercial 5G use, lobbyists told us. Roth’s responses to Fischer and other GOP senators weren't available Tuesday afternoon. Fischer has signaled during several hearings this year that she opposes using a spectrum title in a budget reconciliation package to reallocate parts of the DOD-controlled 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2504010069).
Meanwhile, Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and other Democrats continue to have serious misgivings about Roth because of what they view as the nominee’s unsatisfactory answers on her plans to revamp the agency’s $42.5 billion BEAD program. Some lobbyists said they believe there's a strong possibility that all 13 panel Democrats will oppose the nominee, while others expect at least a handful of caucus members will back her. Cantwell told us she would base her decision on whether Roth gave more fulsome responses to Democrats’ written follow-up BEAD questions than she did during the hearing.
Senate Communications ranking member Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., told us he has “many concerns” about Roth's BEAD responses, which will likely prompt him to vote against her Wednesday. Roth's position on BEAD “doesn't seem clear,” particularly given her vague responses during her confirmation hearing, Lujan said. “I'm open to being supportive” if Roth provides “some clarity on building BEAD out … especially when it comes to some of the more rural parts of America, the frontier parts of the country, as well as working with sovereign” tribal nations.
Vague Responses
Roth's responses to Democrats’ follow-up questions, which we obtained Tuesday, offered little further insight into her BEAD or other policy plans. Roth repeatedly stonewalled Cantwell and other Democrats who wanted her to commit to maintaining states’ existing BEAD plans and funding allocations. “If confirmed, I will work to release allocated funds to the states consistent with NTIA's statutory authority,” Roth said in a written response.
Roth said she will “consult with NTIA’s engineers and attorneys to determine which specific products, services, and technologies meet the criteria” in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to be priorities for BEAD funding, including “technology-neutral criteria to define ‘priority broadband project,’ ‘unserved location,’ and ‘underserved location,’ and in defining minimum service requirements to receive a subgrant.” Connecting “every American to broadband is my top priority, and I support using every dollar allocated in the BEAD program to doing just that,” Roth said. “If confirmed, I look forward to working with” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “and NTIA staff to expedite the BEAD program and get allocated funding.”
Roth also offered only limited visibility into her spectrum views, although she emphasized that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s “perspective on” BEAD never came up during a Senate Commerce meeting with that company on implementing the program. Democrats are concerned the Trump administration will change BEAD rules to give satellite providers like SpaceX's Starlink more funding. Roth repeated statements from her confirmation hearing “that rigorous and careful study should precede decisions to reallocate” the lower 3, 7 and 8 GHz bands. She also committed to “reviewing” a 2024 agreement between DOD, the Commerce Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff that backed Cantwell’s scuttled Spectrum and National Security Act (see 2406120058).
Roth noted that the rival 2024 Spectrum Pipeline Act from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, “would require NTIA to identify a certain quantity of spectrum for reallocation. In order to make this identification, consistent with current practice, NTIA would first conduct studies and consult with other federal agencies to protect their critical missions.” Cruz wants to include his proposal in an upcoming budget reconciliation package (see 2502190068)