The House voted 213-207 Wednesday afternoon on rules for floor consideration of the 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4) that don't allow consideration of a pair of Democratic amendments to strip out language clawing back $1.1 billion of CPB's advance funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027 (see 2506090036). House Rules Committee members sparred into Tuesday night over the proposed CPB rescission before the ruling on the Democratic amendments (see 2506100069).

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Wednesday that he's standing pat on the spectrum legislative language he released last week as part of the panel's portion of the GOP's planned budget reconciliation package, despite ongoing objections from some Armed Services Committee Republicans who agreed to the deal. Meanwhile, House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., told us Tuesday that he's willing to accept the Senate Commerce proposal’s language exempting the 7.4-8.4 GHz band from potential sale.

During oral argument Tuesday in federal court regarding consolidated challenges to the FTC's "click-to-cancel" rule, judges pressed the agency about its failure to conduct a preliminary regulatory analysis (PRA). NCTA, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others petitioned the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the rule (see 2411220029), which is aimed at making it easier to cancel negative option contracts where consumers have to actively opt out of monthly subscriptions. The rule was adopted last year, and the compliance deadline is July 14 (see 2505120004).

Telecom carriers started by using AI for “customer care” and sales, but AI use is spreading to networks and other parts of companies, said Tim Hatt, GSMA's head of research and consulting, during an RCR Wireless telecom AI forum Tuesday. “A lot is happening,” he said. There are regional differences, “but really we are [in] a commercialization phase.”

The House Rules Committee was still considering Tuesday whether to allow floor votes on a pair of Democratic amendments to the 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4) that would strip out its proposed clawback of $1.1 billion of CPB’s advance funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027 (see 2506090036). Panel Republicans and Democrats sparred over CPB funding during the hearing, reflecting growing GOP interest in revoking federal support for public broadcasters over claims that their content has a predominantly pro-Democratic bias (see 2503210040). Meanwhile, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told us he's still undecided about supporting a CPB funding rollback once the upper chamber considers HR-4.

Warner Bros. Discovery -- formed from Discovery's 2022 purchase of WarnerMedia -- will again become two companies, one focused on cable networks and the other on streaming. WBD announced the restructuring Monday, saying it should be done by mid-2026. The split comes after Comcast separated its cable networks and digital assets (see 2411200001) and Lionsgate separated its movie studio and TV businesses (see 2405140002). Analysts and others said WBD's move to two independent, publicly traded companies should have happened awhile ago.

EchoStar allies and critics fortified their positions in the FCC's twin EchoStar proceedings in docket 22-212 and 25-173 reply comments, which were due Friday. The replies covered much of the same turf as initial comments did. One side argued that EchoStar has sunk billions into its 5G network buildout, and FCC action could chill future investments by it and others, while the opposing side questioned the legality of longer buildout deadlines (see 2505280002).

Satellite broadband providers, especially Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper service, are likely the big winners in the Commerce Department’s rewriting of the BEAD program rules, New Street’s Blair Levin told investors Monday. Smaller providers that use unlicensed spectrum to offer broadband also won, he said. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, slammed the revised rules that the Trump administration released Friday (see 2506060052).

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., co-chairman of the Congressional Public Broadcasting Caucus, is seeking to strip out a proposal to claw back CPB’s $1.1 billion in advance funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027 from the 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4). The lower chamber moves toward GOP leaders’ expected push to pass the measure this week (see 2506030065). Meanwhile, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sunday rejected a preliminary injunction request from a trio of CPB board members who are challenging Trump’s disputed April move to fire them (see 2504290067).

Wireless carriers are asking the FCC to trim old regulations and focus on flexible approaches in response to a March Further NPRM on wireless location accuracy. Public safety groups, including the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, want the FCC to put more emphasis on providing dispatchable location information (see 2506060031). Comments were due Friday in docket 07-114, and most were posted Monday.