Danielle Thumann, senior counsel to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, indicated on Tuesday that the commission is looking closely at changing its rules for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a step sought by CTIA (see 2503270059), as well as cutting regulations approved during the last administration. NEPA was the first issue Thumann raised while speaking at a Federalist Society 5G webinar.

Proponents of georouting text messages sent to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline are seemingly starting to coalesce around the use of federal information processing standards (FIPS) codes. That's according to docket 18-336 reply comments due Friday. The 988 call georouting order, which FCC commissioners approved in October, included an NPRM about text georouting (see 2410170026).

The Center for American Rights (CAR) has filed a news distortion complaint at the FCC against CBS, NBC and ABC over their coverage of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador. CAR is the same entity behind the ongoing news distortion proceeding against CBS over a 60 Minutes interview. The complaint comes less than a week after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr posted a warning to NBC parent Comcast about its coverage of Garcia. “Comcast knows that federal law requires its licensed operations to serve the public interest. News distortion doesn’t cut it,” Carr wrote Wednesday.

CTIA and other industry commenters urged the FCC to proceed with caution as it considers changes to wireless emergency alerts (WEAs) that were proposed in a February Further NPRM. Comments were due last week in dockets 15-94 and 15-91. The FNPRM proposed allowing more flexibility in sending out alerts using a “Public Safety Message” classification (see 2502270042).

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has kicked off a rulemaking to bring back Schedule F under a new name and reclassify some federal employees to make them easier to fire, according to a fact sheet issued Friday by the White House. The change will allow agencies to “swiftly remove employees in policy-influencing roles for poor performance, misconduct, corruption, or subversion of Presidential directives, without lengthy procedural hurdles,” the fact sheet said. The National Treasury Employees Union -- which represents FCC staff -- didn’t comment Monday but filed a lawsuit in January over the executive order reviving Schedule F (see 2501220080).

New BEAD guidance from NTIA is expected in the middle of next month, state sources told us. There have been indications from the Commerce Department and elsewhere that big changes are ahead for BEAD rules (see 2503200003). NTIA didn't comment.

Two top Senate Armed Services Committee Republicans are voicing differing reviews of DOD’s recent proposal to the wireless industry to make 420 MHz from current military-controlled frequencies available for FCC auction while maintaining the Pentagon’s grip on the 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2504040068). Other lawmakers are skeptical that the proposal would lead to real progress toward an elusive spectrum legislative deal. Lobbyists pointed to the DOD proposal as aiming to dispel perceptions of an intransigent Pentagon but said it falls far short of the sort of compromise that Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, would likely accept.

A federal appellate court's rejection of a $57 million FCC fine -- calling it unconstitutional -- could force the agency to revisit and overhaul its enforcement processes. The agency clearly has authority to enforce laws requiring telecommunications companies to protect sensitive customer data, but the FCC "must do so consistent with our Constitution’s guarantees of an Article III decisionmaker and a jury trial," a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week as it vacated the fine against AT&T that stemmed from handling of customer data. T-Mobile and Verizon are challenging similar fines levied in the same April 2024 enforcement action. In siding with AT&T, the court said it was guided by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 Jarkesy decision regarding whether federal regulatory agencies can bring in-house proceedings to enforce civil penalties.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s approval of non-terrestrial network (NTN) technology as part of 5G is key to broader adoption of direct-to-device (D2D) service by top wireless carriers, said Tim Hatt, GSMA's head-research and consulting, during a Mobile World Live webinar Thursday. 3GPP standards will lead to economy of scale for the device ecosystem and a larger market, he said.

The Trump administration’s growing list of executive orders targeting law firms may have only limited implications for the FCC, industry lawyers told us. Nonetheless, observers said they see the growing list of targeted firms as an unprecedented assault aimed at chilling opposition to the administration.