Senate Commerce Advances NTIA Nominee Roth on Mostly Party-Line, 16-12 Vote
The Senate Commerce Committee advanced NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth on a nearly party-line vote of 16-12 Wednesday, as expected (see 2504080059). Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to buck his party by supporting her move forward. Panel Democrats gave Republican FCC nominee Olivia Trusty a more positive reception during her Wednesday confirmation hearing, even as they used some of their questions to hammer commission Chairman Brendan Carr’s actions since he took the gavel Jan. 20 and renew their concerns about the loss of agency independence during the Trump administration (see 2504090060).
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Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told us after the meeting that he expects Roth to get a floor vote “sooner rather than later” and is confident that the Democratic opposition won't hinder her confirmation. “She was voted out of [Senate Commerce] with bipartisan support” because of Fetterman's backing, which bodes well for her path forward, Cruz said. Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us that Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will likely object to any attempt to confirm Roth by unanimous consent. Lobbyists expect Roth will still easily clear the chamber’s bare-majority cloture threshold.
Cruz said during the hearing that Roth will “pursue a win-win solution on spectrum that addresses both commercial and national security concerns” and administer NTIA’s $42.5 billion BEAD program “to the benefit of the American people and not to any single individual or company.” BEAD “desperately needs a revamp” to excise rules from NTIA’s Biden administration-era notice of funding opportunity, which contravene language in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, he said. Roth “fully understands these challenges and knows what it takes to finish the job.” Observers said they never doubted Roth would advance out of Senate Commerce on the strength of GOP support for her nomination.
Cruz urged Democrats to back Roth to celebrate her giving birth just after midnight Wednesday to a baby girl. “I understand you may have strenuous objections to the overall direction of the Trump administration,” but “you should know that [Roth] is thoughtful, honest and is receptive to the concerns of your side of the aisle” based on her experience as panel Republicans’ telecom policy director, Cruz said. “We all know the importance of knowing a person in the executive branch whom we can call on and trust to listen to our views.”
Cantwell: No Commitments 'Evidence'
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., told us she decided to back Roth after previously being a holdout because the nominee’s answers to follow-up spectrum questions proved “she’ll be able to handle” making a balanced decision on reallocating federal spectrum that won’t jeopardize military operations on DOD-controlled bands. Roth told Fischer that DOD “should have a seat at the table in any study or discussion affecting its use of spectrum.” Roth said NTIA “oversees and leads the federal government’s use of spectrum,” but “I will work to not only maintain but, where possible, improve NTIA’s close coordinating relationship with all federal agencies, including” DOD.
Cantwell emphasized that she and other Democrats voted against Roth because “we did not see evidence” in Roth’s written responses to their follow-up questions that contradicted her refusal during her late March confirmation hearing (see 2503270065) “to honor the agreements that NTIA has already made with states and tribes” on BEAD funding allocations and rollout plans. “This is what we're asking of nominees” now “because we have a very clear idea about what is getting cut” by the Trump administration via recommendations from the Department of Government Efficiency advisory group, Cantwell said.
Roth was also “not clear” about whether she would “wait for the results” of studies of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band and other frequencies, which the federal government is conducting as part of the Biden-era national spectrum strategy, before making reallocation decisions, Cantwell said. “While I agree we need to bring more spectrum to market, independent studies need to be completed so that we have a full understanding of the potential impacts to our national security and public safety.”
Cantwell originally listed Fetterman as a proxy no vote on Roth but later asked to correct Senate Commerce’s record so he could count as backing the nominee. A Fetterman spokesperson said his initial vote against Roth was a “mix-up” that Senate Commerce corrected and that he had always intended to vote yes. Fetterman’s office didn’t comment on why he supported her.