WISPA CEO David Zumwalt wrote Senate Commerce Committee leaders Friday in “strong support” of NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth ahead of her planned Thursday confirmation hearing (see 2503200066). Roth, who is Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, “has demonstrated a strong commitment to enhancing U.S. economic growth and technological leadership,” Zumwalt said in a letter to panel Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. “She has played a leading role in crafting policies to address spectrum demand, among other matters, which are essential to the development and innovation of the broadband marketplace.”
GOP leaders on the House Appropriations and Oversight subcommittees said in recent interviews that they want public broadcasters to demonstrate that they're addressing claims of pro-Democratic Party bias in their content before lawmakers will consider giving NPR and PBS more federal funding. Capitol Hill Republicans have scrutinized public broadcasters over bias claims since mid-2024 and amplified efforts to end their federal funding since getting unified control of the White House and Congress in January. House Oversight’s Delivering on Government Efficiency Subcommittee plans to press NPR and PBS leaders on Republicans’ bias concerns during a Wednesday hearing (see 2503200058), which is likely to become a showdown on the funding issue.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's administration plans to defend his Tuesday firing of Democratic FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter (see 2503180067). The Trump administration is seeking U.S. Supreme Court reversal of Humphrey's Executor v. U.S., a unanimous 1935 high court decision that set a precedent preventing the president from firing members of commissions like the FTC (see 2503040019). The firings drew swift opposition from congressional Democrats.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks’ announcement Tuesday that he plans to resign from the commission in the spring (see 2503180009) is already prompting speculation about potential successors, despite there not being an obvious front-runner. Some officials voiced renewed concerns about whether President Donald Trump will use the upcoming vacancy as an opportunity to erode FCC norms, either by not filling Starks’ role or picking a Democratic nominee who hews more closely to the administration’s telecom policy priorities.
The Trump administration is eyeing an expedited review of federal spectrum holdings to identify bands that GOP lawmakers could mandate for reallocation in a coming budget reconciliation package, a former Commerce Department official and communications sector lobbyists told us. Telecom-focused congressional leaders indicated some progress in Capitol Hill negotiations to reach a spectrum reconciliation deal but cautioned that there has been no major breakthrough. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and congressional DOD supporters remain at loggerheads.
Senate Commerce Committee member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said during Tuesday's Incompas event (see 2503110058) that until mid-December, he “expected” that the Senate Communications Subcommittee chairmanship would be “my job.” That reflects comments he and then-Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., made during a December hearing on the Salt Typhoon Chinese government-affiliated effort at hacking U.S. telecom networks (see 2412170053). Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska ultimately got the job after she became eligible for it by relinquishing her role as lead Rules Committee Republican to now-former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Moran said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told us Monday night that he doesn’t expect the chamber to “get to” a vote this week on a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to undo the FCC's July 2024 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots (S.J.Res. 7). That means Senate action on S.J.Res. 7 likely won’t happen until after the chamber returns from its brief, upcoming recess the week of March 24. The Senate has a 60-session-day deadline from S.J.Res. 7’s Jan. 27 filing to fast-track consideration of the measure.
Senate Commerce Committee member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said Tuesday that he is pushing for his Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (S-838) to be part of an upcoming GOP-led budget reconciliation package. He and other lawmakers at Incompas' Policy Summit were divided along party lines over a push within the Commerce Department and Congress to revamp NTIA’s $42.5 billion BEAD program. Meanwhile, Moran appeared to lean in favor of repurposing some federally controlled spectrum even as he emphasized that lawmakers must “straddle” the interests of the wireless industry and U.S. military as they negotiate the matter as part of reconciliation (see 2502190068).
The Senate Commerce Committee was eyeing a March 13 confirmation hearing for NTIA nominee Arielle Roth and potentially also FCC nominee Olivia Trusty, but that panel wasn’t final as of Thursday afternoon, several communications sector officials and lobbyists told us. President Donald Trump nominated Roth, Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, in early February (see 2502040056). Trump picked Trusty, a Senate Armed Services Committee Republican staffer, for the FCC seat that former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel vacated Jan. 20 (see 2501160077).
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and other GOP leaders are optimistic, but not yet certain, that they have the votes on their side of the aisle to pass a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval (S.J.Res. 7) to undo the FCC's July 2024 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services. Chamber Democrats are vowing to fight S.J.Res. 7 if leaders bring up the measure for a vote, which lobbyists said could happen as soon as next week. Supporters and opponents of the E-rate expansion are eyeing a handful of Republicans they believe are reluctant to rescind the FCC’s order.