Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told us Wednesday that votes are possible this week on NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth but said the chamber’s schedule remains in flux. Thune filed cloture on Roth Tuesday night, putting her on track for confirmation before the August recess, as expected (see 2505290053). Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and lobbyists told us they expect the chamber to hold at least the initial cloture vote before the chamber leaves for the weekend. “I hope and believe it'll be this week,” Cruz said. The cloture motion on Roth ripens Thursday.
The Senate voted 50-34 Thursday to invoke cloture on NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth, setting the stage for her confirmation next week. The vote divided largely along party lines, with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania the only Democrat to back Roth, as expected. All Senate Commerce Democrats except Fetterman voted against advancing Roth in April amid frustrations about the Trump administration's plan for administering NTIA’s $42.5 billion BEAD program. President Donald Trump nominated Roth in February.
The Senate was on track Wednesday to pass a revised version of the 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4) that retains language to claw back $1.1 billion in advance CPB funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027, despite opposition from Democrats and a handful of Republicans. Public broadcasting supporters continued pressing for some Republicans who voted Tuesday night to clear procedural hurdles for bringing HR-4 to the floor to vote against passing the measure. Senators were voting Wednesday afternoon on Democrats’ amendments to HR-4 after rejecting bids to jettison the CPB defunding language.
Supporters of the House-passed 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4) bid to claw back $1.1 billion of CPB’s advance funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027 got some momentum Tuesday as Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said he will back the measure. Rounds indicated he had reached a deal with the White House OMB on an alternative funding source to provide money to Native American radio stations, as expected (see 2507100071). Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee advanced its FY26 budget bill, which would cut NTIA’s annual funding (see 2507140052).
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Thursday she’s considering filing an amendment to the House-passed 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4) that would strike its proposed clawback of $1.1 billion in advance FY 2026 and FY 2027 funding for CPB. Public broadcasting supporters and opponents were gearing up Thursday for a showdown over the rescissions bid ahead of a potential Tuesday initial vote to begin work on an expected revised version of the measure. Meanwhile, a pair of Senate Commerce Republicans who are also on the Appropriations Committee indicated that they're still negotiating to address their concerns about how CPB defunding could affect rural public broadcasters.
National Association of State 911 Administrators President Pokey Harris clarified Wednesday that her organization and the National Emergency Number Association are “absolutely not at odds” on pushing for Congress to address funding for next-generation 911 tech upgrades, despite statements in a Tuesday interview indicating some minor differences in the groups' preferred processes (see 2507080065). Republican lawmakers decided against allocating any future spectrum auction revenue for NG-911 in the budget reconciliation package that both chambers passed last week (see 2507030056).
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., emphasized Wednesday that rescinding CPB’s advance funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027 could result in “nearly 13 million Americans [being] left without access to their public media stations and the life-saving emergency alerts or information they need.”
Leaders of two 911 advocacy groups in Tuesday interviews offered slightly diverging plans for pushing Congress to address funding for next-generation 911 tech upgrades. Republican lawmakers decided against allocating any future spectrum auction revenue for that purpose in the budget reconciliation package both chambers passed last week (see 2507030056). President Donald Trump signed the measure Friday, authorizing an 800 MHz spectrum auction pipeline through Sept. 30, 2034 (see 2507070045). A Hill briefing Tuesday with the NG9-1-1 Institute and Intrado on emergency communications issues barely touched on the funding issue.
Leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees who are spearheading the bipartisan congressional working group on a USF legislative revamp, which relaunched in June (see 2506120091), told us they plan to begin meeting again this month. But they said they feel less pressure to quickly reach an agreement on legislative recommendations since the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Consumers’ Research v. FCC, which found that USF’s funding mechanism is constitutional (see 2506270054). Sens. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and John Thune, R-S.D., formed the working group in 2023 as Communications Subcommittee chairman and ranking member, respectively (see 2305110066).
House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., told us Wednesday that he expects the Commerce Committee to mark up his AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979) in July, before Congress begins its month-plus August recess. HR-979 and Senate companion S-315 would require the Department of Transportation to mandate AM radio technology's inclusion in future automobiles, mostly affecting electric vehicles. The Senate Commerce Committee advanced a revised version of S-315 in February with the addition of a 10-year sunset for the measure, which led Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., to drop his previous opposition to its passage (see 2502100072). Bilirakis cautioned that House Commerce leaders haven't given him an ironclad commitment they will bring up HR-979 this month but added that he has gotten “very positive feedback” it will happen.