The Senate voted 74-25 Tuesday to confirm Michael Kratsios as White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director, as expected (see 2503170057). Earlier Tuesday, the chamber invoked cloture on Kratsios by a similarly lopsided 73-25 margin. Eight Senate Commerce Committee Democrats, including ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington, were among the 21 caucus members who backed Kratsios. Cantwell and the other seven panel Democrats who supported Kratsios on the floor, including Communications Subcommittee ranking member Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, voted to advance him during a panel meeting earlier this month (see 2503120069). CTIA and USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter hailed Kratsios' confirmation.
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Deregulation of the telecom industry “is key” to making the industry more competitive and reducing the price of service, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told a Free State Foundation conference Tuesday. Hudson said his goals are to also “modernize and streamline rules so that the telecom industry in America can thrive.” BEAD and other federal programs were supposed to help close the digital divide, “but they’re being slow-rolled over onerous requirements and regulations.”
The Fraternal Order of Police said Monday that it, the National League of Cities and 15 other public safety and local government groups are urging House and Senate leaders to permanently renew the FirstNet Authority before its current mandate sunsets in 2027. The Government Accountability Office recommended last year that Congress reauthorize FirstNet, saying failure to renew would result in significant disruption to first responders (see 2405200035).
WISPA CEO David Zumwalt wrote Senate Commerce Committee leaders Friday in “strong support” of NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth ahead of her planned Thursday confirmation hearing (see 2503200066). Roth, who is Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, “has demonstrated a strong commitment to enhancing U.S. economic growth and technological leadership,” Zumwalt said in a letter to panel Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. “She has played a leading role in crafting policies to address spectrum demand, among other matters, which are essential to the development and innovation of the broadband marketplace.”
The Senate Commerce Committee plans to hold a confirmation hearing March 27 for NTIA nominee Arielle Roth, as expected (see 2503070065). The panel will begin at 2:15 p.m. in 253 Russell. Senate Commerce leaders previously eyed a mid-March hearing for Roth in tandem with Republican FCC nominee Olivia Trusty (see 2503060066). President Donald Trump nominated Roth, Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, in early February (see 2502040056).
The House Oversight Delivering on Government Efficiency Subcommittee said Wednesday it plans a March 26 hearing to examine conservatives' claims that public broadcasters’ content has a pro-Democratic bias, as expected (see 2502270071). PBS CEO Paula Kerger and NPR CEO Katherine Maher will testify starting at 10 a.m. in HVC-210. Republican lawmakers have filed several measures this year to end funding for NPR, PBS and CPB and claw back advance appropriations to the broadcasting entities (see 2502110072 and 2502120044), in part for alleged bias. PBS and other U.S. broadcasters are also facing scrutiny from the FCC via investigations that Chairman Brendan Carr has launched since taking over Jan. 20 (see 2502130060).
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., filed cloture Friday night on White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director nominee Michael Kratsios, setting up likely votes on him the week of March 24. The Senate Commerce Committee advanced Kratsios last week on a bipartisan 24-4 vote (see 2503120069).
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Thursday night that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is “exactly right” in urging Congress to mandate a pipeline of reallocated spectrum in conjunction with a restoration of the commission's lapsed auction authority. Carr said in a letter to Cruz and other leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees that enacting “legislation that establishes a new pipeline of mid-band spectrum is vital to our economy and national security.” The FCC, Carr said, “will make any and all of the spectrum allocations and license changes necessary to comply” with any new statute.
Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is pressing the FCC's Enforcement and Media bureaus for information on investigations of broadcasters that commission Chairman Brendan Carr has ordered since taking over Jan. 20. The probes thus far focus on broadcasters that have run content critical of President Donald Trump or otherwise face claims of pro-Democratic Party bias. Carr has, in some cases, said the scrutiny is focused on other matters (see 2502110063).
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, is a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee member. He chairs Appropriations’ Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee (see 2503120068).