The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a public interest group petition for en banc review of the court’s decision against the FCC’s 2024 net neutrality order, an order said Tuesday. “The original panel has reviewed the petition for rehearing and concludes that the issues raised in the petition were fully considered upon the original submission and decision of the cases,” it said. After the petition (see 2502180050) was circulated to the full court, no 6th Circuit judge requested a vote on the petition for rehearing, the order said.

Major trade groups are at odds with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) on whether the FCC should reconsider its January declaratory ruling in response to the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks. That ruling was opposed by now-Chairman Brendan Carr (see 2501160041). The FCC concluded then that Section 105 of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) “affirmatively requires telecommunications carriers to secure their networks from unlawful access or interception of communications.”

FCC leadership, including Chairman Brendan Carr, is already closely aligned with President Donald Trump's agenda, lessening the effect of the president's executive order about increasing White House control over independent agencies like the FCC, Davis Wright attorneys blogged Monday. Carr's FCC will likely follow Trump's agenda and priorities in practice, regardless of the theoretical independence of commissioners, Davis Wright said. But an issue could arise that sees Republican-appointed commissioners splitting with Trump on key issues, it said. In that case, the level of presidential control over the FCC's agenda and whether Trump can remove commissioners over policy disagreements "may have serious practical consequences."

The American Civil Liberties Union, Committee to Protect Journalists and others are expressing dismay at what they see as the FCC putting politically motivated pressure on media organizations and broadcasters "who exercise protected speech that the current administration disfavors."

Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition Executive Director John Windhausen told us that a potential vote on a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval (S.J.Res. 7) to undo the FCC's July 2024 order allowing E-rate funding for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless could be difficult for “a lot of senators because the applications for" that money are coming from 46 states (see 2503060059).

The FCC has received complaints indicating that Google's YouTube TV has a policy of discriminating against faith-based programming, according to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. Carr posted Friday on X a letter he sent to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google parent Alphabet, and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. In it, Carr requested that Google and YouTube brief FCC staff on the role of virtual multichannel video programming distributors in the media marketplace "and YouTube TV's carriage negotiation process, including the potential role of viewpoint-based discrimination." Carr cited a complaint from Great American Media alleging that YouTube TV "deliberately marginalizes faith-based and family-friendly content" and "refuses to carry" its Great American Family network.

The Senate Commerce Committee was eyeing a March 13 confirmation hearing for NTIA nominee Arielle Roth and potentially also FCC nominee Olivia Trusty, but that panel wasn’t final as of Thursday afternoon, several communications sector officials and lobbyists told us. President Donald Trump nominated Roth, Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, in early February (see 2502040056). Trump picked Trusty, a Senate Armed Services Committee Republican staffer, for the FCC seat that former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel vacated Jan. 20 (see 2501160077).

SpaceX denies that it's trying to grab a $2.4 billion Verizon FAA contract (see 2503030035). The satellite operator wrote Wednesday on X that it's working with the agency and L3Harris, the prime contractor for FAA telecommunications infrastructure, on testing Starlink as one part of an upgrade to that infrastructure. "There is no effort or intent for Starlink to 'take over' any existing contract," it said.

President Donald Trump urged lawmakers Tuesday night to “get rid” of the 2022 Chips and Science Act, which allocated $52 billion for domestic semiconductor manufacturing (see 2207280060). The law “is a horrible, horrible thing,” Trump said during his Tuesday night speech to a joint session of Congress. He asked House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to use “whatever’s left over” in unobligated Chips and Science Act funding “to reduce debt or any other reason you want to.” Trump was sharply critical of the statute during the 2024 presidential campaign, saying subsidies were a bad idea (see 2412090046). Johnson drew heat himself during the closing days of the campaign by first calling for Congress to repeal the Chips and Science Act and then quickly reversing course (see 2411040062).

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett are likely the key votes as the U.S. Supreme Court considers Humphrey’s Executor, the 1935 decision that allows Congress to limit a president’s ability to remove senior officials, TechFreedom Internet Policy Counsel Corbin Barthold wrote Tuesday in The Bulwark. “For as long as modern conservative legal thought has existed, there has been a campaign to overturn Humphrey’s Executor,” Barthold wrote. “The decision, which sustained a provision that insulated the five leaders of the [FTC] from being removed without cause, became the foundation for so-called independent agencies,” but it’s not “a strong decision,” he said. President Franklin Roosevelt saw it as “an effort to rebuke him” by a then-conservative SCOTUS, and “modern legal scholars tend to agree.”