Lawmakers can’t undo FCC approval of Ligado via a Congressional Review Act resolution, GAO said last week. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., asked for the study. The House and Senate Armed Services committees passed FY 2021 National Defense Authorization acts (HR-6395/S-4049) with anti-Ligado language (see 2007210060). The CRA can only be used to overturn agencies’ actions that constitute a rule. The Administrative Procedure Act definition doesn’t cover this decision because licensing actions are an order, GAO said. “License modifications applicable to all regulated entities may be made through a rulemaking given the policy nature and across-the-board applicability, but individual actions must be evaluated through adjudication, which is what FCC did,” the office said. “The resultant action … falls within the APA definition of order and not rule." The office of Sen. Jim Inhofe, who tied up Commissioner Mike O'Rielly's nomination over the matter, didn’t comment Friday.
President Donald Trump’s administration is believed nearly ready to name NTIA senior adviser Carolyn Roddy as President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, potentially as soon as the next few days, communications sector officials and lobbyists told us. Behind-the scenes wrangling between the Trump administration and Senate GOP leaders over O'Rielly's revoked renomination continued this week, with prospects for a resolution uncertain, officials and lobbyists said. Trump withdrew the renomination last week (see 2008030072). Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota and other Republicans have pressed Trump to reinstate O'Rielly (see 2008060062).
President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday it reached agreement with DOD to allow commercial sharing of spectrum in the 3450-3550 MHz band. NTIA reported last month that spectrum is the best candidate from the larger 3100-3550 MHz band for sharing. The White House said it believes the FCC will be able to auction sharing rights for the 100 MHz beginning in December 2021, with commercial operations on the band beginning in mid-2022.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other GOP lawmakers are pressing President Donald Trump to reverse course and reinstate his renomination of FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, officials told us. Trump abruptly withdrew O’Rielly’s renomination Monday (see 2008030072). The decision drew significant scrutiny amid perceptions it’s tied to O’Rielly’s reluctance to say he wants the FCC to clarify its rules in response to Trump’s May executive order on Communications Decency Act Section 230. Senate Republicans are making their case for O’Rielly partly because they think it would be difficult for the Senate to confirm a replacement this year (see 2008040061).
President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of renomination of FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly (see 2008030072) is getting considerable scrutiny on Capitol Hill and within the communications industry. Some officials suggested Trump’s action will have repercussions for commission politics and policymaking heading into 2021. O’Rielly’s removal will likely make it very difficult for the Senate to confirm a nominee this year to replace him, given the limited amount of time left on the legislative calendar before this Congress ends, lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews through Tuesday.
President Donald Trump withdrew his renomination of FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly to another term, the White House announced Monday. The Trump administration and O’Rielly’s office didn’t immediately comment. O’Rielly’s nomination had been seen to be on hold until at least September due to a hold from Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and opposition from several Senate Commerce Committee Democrats.
A Senate block on FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly is likely to delay reconfirmation until at least after Congress’ upcoming August recess and potentially until after the November election, lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews last week. Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., placed a hold last week on O’Rielly that he said will last until the commissioner publicly “states that he will vote to overturn” the order approving Ligado’s L-band plan (see 2007280039). President Donald Trump nominated O’Rielly in March to a term ending in 2024 (see 2003180070).
If presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins the November election, there’s a danger “you’ll see the heavy-handedness of government” make a resurgence and stifle tech sector innovation, posing a risk the U.S. bid to dominate 5G development, House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said on C-SPAN’s The Communicators set to be televised this weekend. The U.S. needs to prevail in the 5G race against China and Russia, but tech sector officials have repeatedly told lawmakers that can happen only if the federal government continues to emphasize “soft-touch regulation,” as it has over the course of President Donald Trump’s administration, Latta said. He noted the importance of ensuring cybersecurity “is a major priority” given national security threats posed by Chinese equipment makers Huawei and ZTE and concerns about TikTok. Latta said consensus on appropriations via infrastructure legislation for broadband funding requires buy-in from both parties. The lawmaker pointed to an amended version of the 5G Spectrum Act (S-2881) as a potential compromise. The measure, which the Senate Commerce Committee cleared in December, would allocate 10% of proceeds from the FCC’s upcoming auction of spectrum on the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band for broadband (see 1912110038). Latta believes it’s going to be tougher to include broadband money in the next COVID-19 aid bill given other priorities. A final bill is likely to be a “much more scaled-down piece of legislation,” he said. Senate Republican proposals for the next aid legislation include few telecom and tech provisions (see 2007280059). Latta believes compromise and bipartisanship are required to advance any legislation to revamp Communications Decency Act Section 230. NTIA petitioned the FCC earlier this week to clarify Section 230, as President Donald Trump directed (see 2007270070).
Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Thom Tillis, R-N.C., wants any Digital Millennium Copyright Act revamp to codify existing DMCA fair use exceptions and add potential new such categories. Tillis has been working on potential update language with an eye to releasing a draft in December (see 2006090063). Ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., is doubtful about the legislative path forward this Congress given limited legislative days (see 2006230068).
House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., decried the committee’s lack of progress since the beginning of 2019 on privacy and autonomous vehicle legislation. “I wish we were farther along” on privacy legislation, Walden said on C-SPAN’s The Communicators that was to have been televised this weekend. If the GOP had retained its House majority in the 2018 election, he believes he and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., would have focused on reaching a legislative deal early this Congress. “We talked a lot about it” before the election, Walden said. “We were hoping to get ahead” of the California Consumer Privacy Act taking effect “and look at what worked and didn’t work” with the EU’s general data protection regulation. CCPA enforcement began this month (see 2006300051). That law and GDPR are becoming the U.S.’ de facto privacy standard absent a national law, Walden said: “America should lead in this space” and “the longer we wait, the more other governments … are going to meander around in this space and you’re going to have this patchwork of competing requirements.” The main reason privacy legislation hasn’t moved is because of continuing disagreements about whether to include a private right of action or a trial bar in a final measure, Walden said. The latter is also the main reason AV legislation failed to advance. Walden was more optimistic about House Commerce’s work on communications network security, citing enactment of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act. HR-4998 provides funding to help U.S. communications providers remove Chinese equipment determined to threaten national security (see 2003040056). He hopes appropriators include money for the law’s enactment in FY 2021 funding measures. The House Appropriations Committee’s FY21 FCC funding bill allocates $1 billion for that purpose (see 2007080064). “The extent to which we can get” suspect “equipment out of” U.S. infrastructure and “not only compete on 5G but leapfrog to whatever we call the next iteration … is where we need to focus,” Walden said.