Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., confirmed to us this week they intend to stay in their respective roles in the 118th Congress. Incompas CEO Chip Pickering said during a Thursday webinar he believes there will be relative continuity in the House and Senate Commerce panels’ leadership. That continuity contrasted with top-level turnover in House Democratic leadership after Thursday announcements by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland that they will step down from top party roles after this Congress.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., are believed to be readying separate proposals for a larger spectrum legislative package as Congress returns this week from the long pre-election recess. The bills would grapple with how to address a renewal of the FCC’s auction authority before a short-term extension expires Dec. 16, among other things. CTIA Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Scott Bergmann and others cited the FCC renewal as the priority lawmakers should focus on as they grapple with whether to move forward on the House-passed Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-7624) or another measure as a compromise vehicle, during a Monday R Street Institute event.
The electoral battle for control of Congress remained unresolved Thursday, but former FCC officials agree with other communications sector observers (see 2210310073) that Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is likely to face less critical oversight if the GOP wins either chamber than would otherwise be expected because the current 2-2 split commission has spawned relatively little controversy. NTIA could face more of the heat, experts told us. Tech policy stakeholders, meanwhile, expect a shift in the direction on Big Tech-focused legislation under GOP majorities.
All but one of the members of the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees considered in competitive races this year (see 2211070059) won reelection in the Tuesday midterm election, but a handful of veterans on the House Commerce and Judiciary panels went down to defeat. Democrats performed better than election forecasters predicted in many battleground races, with enough contests still uncalled Wednesday afternoon that all major news organizations remained unable to declare which party would control either the House or Senate in the 118th Congress. That uncertainty means the outlook for tech and telecom policymaking remains unclear, officials and observers said in interviews.
Communications sector officials and lobbyists believe the outcome of the Tuesday midterm election could affect a range of telecom policy priorities, including whether the Senate confirms FCC nominee Gigi Sohn this year, or any other commission Democrats, during the remainder of President Joe Biden’s term. Election results may affect future federal broadband funding initiatives and the direction of a proposed spectrum pipeline in the years ahead, observers told us. Election prognosticators see only a handful of incumbents on the Senate and House Commerce and Judiciary committees facing tight reelection battles despite volatile polling results in recent weeks.
The FCC’s persistent 2-2 tie since the beginning of the Biden administration and the resulting dearth of partisan Democratic telecom policy actions will likely blunt the level of criticism Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and the commission will initially face from House Commerce Committee Republicans during the next Congress if their party wins a majority in the Nov. 8 election, said ex-panel Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and other observers in interviews. But Commerce GOP oversight of the FCC would likely ratchet up significantly if and when the commission returns to a 3-2 Democratic majority, officials said. Regardless, there will be a major emphasis on whether the FCC is abiding by the Supreme Court’s embrace of the "major questions” doctrine in its West Virginia v. EPA ruling (see 2206300066), officials said.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed Thursday she has received a letter from acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen asking that the agency mandate voluntary protections for radio altimeters agreed to by Verizon and AT&T in the C band (see 2206170070) for 19 other providers who bought spectrum in the record-setting auction. “I have seen the letter” and “we are in discussions with our colleagues at NTIA,” Rosenworcel told reporters after the FCC meeting. Commissioner Brendan Carr said he was happy to look at FAA concerns, but believes the time to raise new objections has passed.
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York and Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., filed the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act on Tuesday on bid to counter the influence of the Chinese government and other foreign governments on U.S. telecom infrastructure. Stefanik’s office cited the U.S. government’s Monday filing of charges against two Chinese intelligence officers with attempting to obstruct the DOJ’s criminal investigation into Huawei (see 2210240059) as an impetus for filing the measure now. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and House Commerce Committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., separately raised concerns about the Chinese government’s interference.
NTIA intends to open a planned request for comment as part of its work to move forward on a national spectrum strategy (see 2209190061) “sooner rather than later,” but there’s no specific timeline, Senior Spectrum Adviser Scott Harris said Wednesday during a Georgetown University Center for Business and Public Policy event. House Communications Subcommittee Chief GOP Counsel Kate O’Connor, meanwhile, urged the Senate Commerce Committee to advance the House-passed Spectrum Innovation Act (HR-7624) and faulted the House Commerce Committee's recent oversight of interagency spectrum policy infighting.
Congressional telecom policy leaders and other observers are hopeful but not certain that additional funding for the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program and next-generation 911 tech upgrades will remain top priorities in FY 2023 appropriations talks, amid the apparent lack of consensus so far on allocating future spectrum auction proceeds for that purpose. Lawmakers agreed last month to temporarily extend the FCC’s auction authority through Dec. 16 via a continuing resolution to buy additional time for talks on a broader spectrum legislative package that allocates sales proceeds to telecom projects (see 2209300058).