The House voted 341-88 Thursday to pass its final FY 2026 minibus appropriations package (HR-7148), which doesn't restore the $1.1 billion in advance federal funding for public broadcasting that Congress rescinded last year (see 2601200072). The chamber voted 427-0 earlier in the day to include language (H.Res. 1014) in the package to repeal part of a November law that allows senators to sue federal agencies for accessing their phone records without notice. The House previously voted unanimously (see 2511200056) on a bill to repeal the lawsuit language (HR-6019).
Former FirstNet Authority Board Chairs Richard Carrizzo and Sue Swenson objected Wednesday to a draft bill that House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., is currently writing to reauthorize the public safety broadband network before its current mandate expires in February 2027 (see 2601200065). Carrizzo and Swenson wrote to current FirstNet board members about the bill ahead of a separate Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing Tuesday on the renewal issue, which the Commerce Committee announced Tuesday night, as expected (see 2601130072). Meanwhile, the House Commerce Committee on Wednesday advanced a set of three other public safety communications bills (see 2601160062).
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told us he’s “working on draft legislation” to renew the FirstNet Authority public safety broadband network, likely with some governance alterations, as the Senate Communications Subcommittee prepares to also examine the issue (see 2601130072). Without congressional reauthorization, FirstNet’s mandate will expire in February 2027. The Government Accountability Office recommended in 2024 that Congress re-up FirstNet, saying failure to do so would result in significant disruption to first responders (see 2405200035).
Alpine Group’s Greg Walden, a former House Commerce Committee GOP leader whose clients include NextNav, told us Thursday that he's meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill advocating in favor of the company’s petition for the FCC to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band to enable a “terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing (see 2404160043). The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies and other public safety groups have raised interference concerns about the NextNav proposal (see 2511210022).
Best Best localities lawyer Gerry Lederer pushed back Wednesday night against comments from Wireless Infrastructure Association CEO Patrick Halley that the American Broadband Deployment Act (HR-2289) represents a “partnership between industry and local government” aimed at easing connectivity permitting processes (see 2601090064). The House Commerce Committee in December advanced HR-2289, which combined language from 22 GOP-led connectivity permitting bills, by a closer-than-expected 26-24 party-line vote (see 2512030031). It would, in part, set a 150-day shot clock for states and localities to approve new deployments and a 90-day window for modifications to existing infrastructure.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., is continuing to push for some of the public broadcasting funding that Congress rescinded last year to return as part of an FY 2026 appropriations minibus bill currently under negotiation (see 2601080070), but lawmakers and observers see diminishing chances that will succeed. Meanwhile, Congress continued Wednesday night and Thursday to advance separate FY26 appropriations packages that would fund the FCC and NTIA.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told us that he's aiming to have a final figure for the amount of funding to include in the Next Generation 911 Act (HR-6505) before the full Commerce Committee marks up the measure. As expected (see 2601130072), the subpanel on Thursday advanced HR-6505 and five other communications bills on bipartisan voice votes: the Public Safety Communications Act (HR-1519), Lulu’s Law (HR-2076), the Emergency Reporting Act (HR-5200), Kari’s Law Reporting Act (HR-5201) and the Mystic Alerts Act (HR-7022).
House Communications Subcommittee Democrats fulfilled expectations (see 2601130067) that they would spend much of a Wednesday FCC oversight hearing criticizing commission Chairman Brendan Carr over his media regulatory actions and his perceived devotion to only pleasing President Donald Trump. Republicans avoided those topics almost entirely and instead focused on praising Carr’s FCC tenure. Meanwhile, Carr continued to dodge what ended up being a bipartisan push to pin down his position on proposals to eliminate or ease the national TV station audience reach cap (see 2601140071).
Supporters of the American Broadband Deployment Act (HR-2289) are optimistic about its prospects for passing this year amid unified GOP control of the White House and Congress, but opponents believe political dynamics on and off Capitol Hill will continue to be a significant speed bump in the months ahead. The House Commerce Committee in December advanced HR-2289, which combined language from 22 GOP-led connectivity permitting bills, by a closer-than-expected 26-24 party-line vote (see 2512030031). The panel cleared a similar version of the package during the last Congress, but it never reached the floor due to Democratic resistance (see 2305230067).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr continued during and after the House Communications Subcommittee’s hearing Wednesday to dodge what ended up being a bipartisan push to pin him down on his position on proposals for the agency to eliminate or ease the existing 39% national TV station audience reach cap. During the hearing, Carr faced continued criticism from Democrats about his media regulatory actions since taking the helm last year. Meanwhile, he encountered universal praise from Republicans, including for implementing the 800 MHz spectrum pipeline Congress passed as part of the 2025 budget reconciliation package (see 2601140064).