Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., pressed the FCC Monday to reconsider its decision to hold off on awarding T-Mobile more than 7,000 spectrum licenses it bought last year in the commission’s 2.5 GHz auction while its sales authority remains lapsed. “The FCC appears to be holding onto T-Mobile’s $304 million payment while providing nothing in return,” the GOP leaders said in a letter to Jessica Rosenworcel we obtained first ahead of its release. “If it had been a private company that accepted payment and then refused delivery of goods or services, a customer would be well within its rights to sue for breach of contract. This circumstance is similar, but it is perhaps even more egregiously unfair given the power dynamics: a government regulator is withholding a legitimately obtained good from a regulated entity.”
House Communications Subcommittee leaders told us they plan to continue actively pushing for floor action on the Commerce Committee-approved Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) when the chamber returns Sept. 12, despite the measure facing continued opposition from some Senate Republicans. House Commerce leaders tried and failed to get a floor vote on the measure before the August recess (see 2307270063). Lawmakers believe the outcome of a pending DOD study on repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band may affect the prospects for reaching a deal to pass a spectrum legislative package that includes language from HR-3565 and other measures (see 2308070001).
Senators, communications sector lobbyists and other observers are bracing for the potential impact that a pending DOD study’s recommendations for repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band could have on prospects for Capitol Hill to reach a deal on a spectrum legislative package that allocates some future auction revenue to pay for telecom projects. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., cited the study’s release as a reason to object to efforts to renew the FCC’s spectrum auction authority for a period ending before Sept. 30, which led to the mandate’s March expiration (see 2303090074).
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., filed cloture Thursday on Democratic FCC nominee Anna Gomez, teeing up likely floor votes leading to her confirmation during the first full week of September. That means movement on Gomez and the resulting shift to a 3-2 Democratic FCC majority will be slower than her supporters wanted but provides a clear timeline for the changeover to take place, officials and observers told us. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and others filed a cloture petition on Gomez earlier this month in hopes Schumer would hold floor votes on the nominee before Congress left for the month-plus August recess (see 2307200071).
The Senate Commerce Committee easily advanced the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (S-1669) Thursday, but the measure still faces hurdles to enactment, especially in the House. Congress was on track to not act on two other communications policy matters seen as potentially ripe for action before lawmakers were expected to depart Thursday night for the month-plus August recess (see 2307200071): a push for Senate confirmation of Democratic FCC nominee Anna Gomez and House consideration of the Commerce Committee-approved Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565).
House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., is eyeing how to move forward on her Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act (HR-1338) after the chamber failed to pass the FCC licensing revamp measure Tuesday under suspension of the rules. Meanwhile, the panel is set to mark up the NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-4510) and two other Communications Subcommittee-cleared bills Thursday. The House Appropriations Committee is eyeing a potential markup this week of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee’s FY 2024 funding bill, which would end advance money to CPB beginning in FY 2026 (see 2307140069), subpanel Chairman Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., told us.
The House plans to vote as soon as Tuesday under suspension of the rules on the Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act (HR-1338) and three other Commerce Committee-approved communications policy bills, said the office of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. Notably absent from the agenda is the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565), which some lawmakers were pushing House leaders to bring up for a floor vote before Congress leaves on the month-plus August recess (see 2307200071). The House Rules Committee, meanwhile, will consider Wednesday whether to allow votes on three broadband-focused amendments to the FY 2024 Agriculture Department appropriations bill (HR-4368).
House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and the leaders of the Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee told us they’re geared up to fight against lower chamber Republicans’ bid to defund CPB via FY 2024 federal funding legislation. The House Appropriations LHHS Subcommittee voted earlier this month to advance its funding bill without any mention of CPB funding, meaning the program wouldn’t have any advance federal funding for FY 2026 (see 2307140069).
Capitol Hill may be on course to tackle a trifecta of major FCC and communications policy matters during the final week before Congress begins the month-plus August recess, including Senate floor votes on Democratic commission nominee Anna Gomez, but lawmakers cautioned Thursday afternoon that action on those issues remained uncertain. Senate Democrats were urging Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to file cloture on Gomez in hopes of setting up floor votes next week on the nominee, whose confirmation would bring the FCC to a 3-2 Democratic majority more than two years into President Joe Biden’s term.
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., confirmed to us Tuesday that there are holds on FCC nominee Anna Gomez and renominated Commissioner Geoffrey Starks that prevent the chamber from confirming the two Democrats via unanimous consent (see 2307180073). “I don’t know the particulars of the holds, but that has the effect of slowing things down” and affecting the prospects for Senate Democrats to confirm at least Gomez before the chamber begins the month-plus August recess, said Thune, who’s also minority whip. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said during a Wednesday news conference the chamber’s “first job” is to finish passing the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (S-2226) and then “we’ll see what … goes from there” on potentially keeping the Senate in session into part of August to confirm additional executive nominees.