House lawmakers from both parties continued Wednesday to criticize new Senate language in the package to end the government shutdown (HR-5371) that would allow senators to sue federal agencies in response to reports of DOJ spying on some Republican lawmakers' phone records during the Biden administration. The Senate-approved provision targeted claims that the FBI and former Special Counsel Jack Smith accessed the phone records of several Republican lawmakers as part of the Biden administration’s probe of the Jan. 6 Capitol siege (see 2510170039). The House was set to vote Wednesday night on HR-5371, which could lead the FCC to restart most of its operations Thursday. The FCC suspended most of its functions when the government shutdown began Oct. 1. and furloughed 81% of its staff (see 2510010065). The Senate passed HR-5371 Monday night 60-40.
Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and other witnesses at a Public Knowledge event Wednesday called for Congress to end what they see as actions by Chairman Brendan Carr's commission infringing media's First Amendment rights. PK CEO Chris Lewis framed the event as the first in an anticipated series of “people’s oversight” hearings on the FCC and other federal agencies in response to what he sees as Congress’ failure to counter Trump administration actions against the president's perceived enemies.
A compromise package to reopen the federal government (HR-5371) that the House and Senate are expected to vote on soon (see 2511100022) would also enact FY 2026 funding for the Agriculture Department with more rural broadband money than Congress proposed earlier this year. HR-5371’s USDA funding section includes $108.5 million for rural broadband programs, 13% more than the $96 million that the House and Senate included in slightly different versions of a minibus funding bill they passed in June (HR-3944).
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Indian Affairs Committee Vice Chairman Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, pressed top Commerce Department officials late Thursday to explain why the Trump administration has frozen $980 million in unobligated Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) funding and halted an additional $294 million allocated in December 2024. Meanwhile, Senate Small Business Committee Chair Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is circulating a draft bill, called the Recovering Excess Communications Appropriations While Protecting Telecommunications Upgrades, Reinvestment and Expansion (Recapture) Act, in a bid to claw back states’ non-deployment BEAD funding.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., confirmed Thursday that she won't seek reelection to the San Francisco-based seat she has held for 20 terms, potentially paving the way for California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D), who has focused on tech and telecom policy issues, to succeed her. Pelosi led the House for four terms, from 2007-11 and 2019-23, most recently when Democrats had a majority in the chamber. She relinquished her leadership role at the beginning of the last Congress to now-Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
Democrats won Tuesday night in special elections for two Georgia Public Service Commission seats, marking the first time party members have earned spots on the regulatory body since 2006. Those victories were part of the Democratic Party’s broader rout in the elections, including selection of its candidates for governor in New Jersey and Virginia. Ex-U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who won the Virginia gubernatorial race, and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who won in New Jersey, both raised internet issues during the campaign.
Glen Smith, President Donald Trump’s nominee for agriculture undersecretary for rural development, told Senate Agriculture Committee members Wednesday that he will make it a priority to review USDA’s broadband programs in response to Republican lawmakers’ concerns about the scope of federal connectivity efforts leading to unnecessary funding overlaps. Meanwhile, panel Democrats pressed Smith on strengthening USDA’s ReConnect program, citing GOP proposals to end or reduce its funding.
CBS again faced controversy Monday over its editing of a 60 Minutes interview, this time with President Donald Trump, leaving FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Democrats at odds over whether the changes constituted a violation of the commission’s news distortion rules. The volley of barbs compared the removal of pieces of Trump's interview -- at his request -- to 60 Minutes’ controversial October 2024 editing of an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris (see 2410100050). Harris' campaign didn't seek edits to her 60 Minutes interview, which is itself the subject of an ongoing FCC news distortion probe and a lawsuit from Trump that CBS settled in July (see 2507020053).
Top Senate Commerce Committee leaders told us they aren’t yet completely ruling out proposals to make the USF subject to Congress’ annual appropriations process as part of a legislative revamp of the program. However, some panel Democrats are dubious because of flaws in the funding system, amplified by the ongoing government shutdown (see 2510230049). In comments submitted to Congress' bipartisan USF working group, some stakeholders also strongly advocated for shifting to an appropriations-based funding model (see 2509160064). Meanwhile, panelists at a Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition event Wednesday said they see appropriations as a largely unappealing option to give USF more sustainable long-term funding.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told us he’s still planning to bring in FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for a hearing before year-end, but Democrats are concerned that he’s slow-walking scheduling that panel amid their ongoing airing of grievances about Carr's tenure leading the commission, particularly actions that critics say targeted the media’s free speech rights. As expected (see 2510280053), Senate Commerce Democrats used Wednesday's hearing on the Biden administration's social media censorship to again raise concerns about Carr’s comments last month against ABC and parent Disney, which were widely perceived as influencing the network’s since-reversed decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live!