Senate Commerce Space Subcommittee Chair Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., said Tuesday she won’t seek reelection this year. Sinema has been a frequent foil within the Democratic caucus on telecom issues, including legislative attempts to reinstate the FCC’s rescinded 2015 net neutrality order (see 1903120078). It was also believed she was a skeptic about confirming now-former FCC nominee Gigi Sohn last year (see 2303030074). Sinema cited growing partisanship and fractiousness on Capitol Hill as the reason for her exit. “I believe in my” bipartisan approach to lawmaking, “but it’s not what America wants right now,” she said in a video message.

President Joe Biden should recommend the FCC establish minimum cybersecurity standards for wireless carriers to protect Americans' cellphone data from surveillance by China, Russia and other countries, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote the White House Thursday. Wyden detailed how foreign entities have allegedly exploited flaws in “obscure technologies” like diameter and signaling system 7, which wireless companies use for texting and roaming purposes around the world. The FCC should “require companies buying access to SS7 and Diameter by leasing Global Titles to comply with registration and know your customer requirements,” he said. Global titles are unique addresses carriers use to route signaling messages. Wyden also urged OMB to “establish minimum cybersecurity standards for wireless services purchased by federal agencies.” The White House didn’t comment.

The House is set to vote as soon as Tuesday night on the NTIA Reauthorization Act (HR-4510) and 988 Lifeline Cybersecurity Responsibility Act (HR-498) under suspension of the rules, the office of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday. HR-498, which the House Commerce Committee advanced last year, would amend the 2020 National Suicide Hotline Designation Act to require improved coordination and reporting on potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the 988 Lifeline, with the goal of mitigating future cyberattacks and preventing disruption of services (see 2304050080). The House Commerce-cleared HR-4510 would elevate the NTIA administrator from assistant secretary to undersecretary of Commerce and proposes other steps to improve coordination of federal spectrum (see 2307270063).

It’s “utterly ridiculous” DOJ is attempting to circumvent Congress by reauthorizing its surveillance authorities through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Thursday. DOJ is reportedly seeking a yearlong extension of its surveillance powers under Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702, which expires in April (see 2312140052). It’s “utterly ridiculous that the Biden Administration and the Justice Department would rather risk the long-term future of an important surveillance authority than support a single meaningful reform to protect Americans’ rights,” said Wyden. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., also denounced DOJ’s request: It’s “extraordinary that, despite broad support for substantial reform, the Department of Justice is discreetly attempting to bypass the legislative process to secure another surveillance reauthorization. This is unacceptable, and completely undermines the authority of the Congress.” Demand Progress Policy Director Sean Vitka called DOJ's request a "gross betrayal of the American people." DOJ didn’t comment.

The House voted 320-99 Thursday to approve a continuing resolution (HR-7463) that would extend federal appropriations for NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies, DOJ’s Antitrust Division and the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service through March 8, averting a partial government shutdown that would otherwise close RUS late Friday. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other congressional leaders said they reached a deal on appropriations measures covering those agencies, so the short-term extension would allow time for Congress to address individual funding measures. HR-7463 also extends appropriations for the FCC and FTC through March 22. The CR’s enactment prospects remained in doubt Thursday afternoon amid misgivings from some Senate Republicans, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hoped to hold a vote that evening.

Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune of South Dakota remained tight-lipped Wednesday about whether he would seek the chamber's top Republican post following Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's announcement earlier in the day that he will step down in November. “We'll let you know soon what we’re thinking,” Thune told reporters. McConnell (Ky.) will leave “big shoes to fill” and “today we’ll reflect on his service and honor him for that,” Thune added. Observers have long tipped Thune, the minority whip, as a leading contender to succeed McConnell as the chamber's Republican leader. Other likely contenders include Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (Wyo.) and former GOP Whip John Cornyn (Texas). Thune, a former Senate Commerce chairman, took the Communications gavel in 2019 (see 1901160046).

The FTC should investigate the data privacy practices of major automakers, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wrote the agency Tuesday. Markey said he is seeking details about privacy practices at Ford, BMW, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Stellantis, Subaru, Tesla and Volkswagen. Markey said the companies are evasive about consumer consent, how data is used for commercial purposes and whether data was compromised in cybersecurity attacks. Automakers “are collecting large amounts of data on drivers, passengers, and even people outside the vehicle, with little to no oversight,” he said. The agency confirmed receiving the letter but declined comment.

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., asked DOD and NTIA Wednesday for an explanation of how they will conduct new studies of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band, which the Biden administration's national spectrum strategy requires (see 2311130048). Both lawmakers strongly supported the House Commerce Committee-cleared Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565), which proposes selling part of the lower 3 GHz band (see 2305240069). Lawmakers are grappling with reshaping a spectrum legislative package amid stalled talks and the DOD's negative findings last year about the effect that potential 5G use of the lower 3 GHz band would have on incumbent military systems (see 2312280044). The DOD “assessment found that non-federal operations are feasible if certain advanced interference mitigation features and a coordination framework are put in place,” Latta and Matsui said in a letter to NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson and DOD Chief Information Officer John Sherman. The national spectrum strategy's lower 3 GHz mandate provides an “opportunity to build upon” DOD's earlier findings by “studying additional private-sector access” on the band. “Clearly articulating the processes your agencies will use to study this band will help provide certainty for both federal and non-federal users,” the lawmakers said. They emphasized that NTIA developed the strategy “consistent with its statutory role as the sole agency responsible for authorizing Federal spectrum use.” They want insight from Davidson and Sherman about how DOD and NTIA will “co-lead” work on the new studies and “ensure a consistent and evidence-based process is used to establish methodology, assumptions, and parameters.” The legislators also want details about steps the agencies will “take to ensure all opportunities for commercial use in the Lower 3 GHz are fully considered and all relevant stakeholders have the ability to participate.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other congressional leaders were optimistic Tuesday they can avoid a partial government shutdown that would otherwise shutter the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service and other agencies when an existing continuing resolution expires Friday night. A second CR covering the FCC, FTC, NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies and the DOJ Antitrust Division lasts through March 8 (see 2401180057). Johnson told reporters after a meeting with President Joe Biden and Capitol Hill leaders he’s “very optimistic” that Congress can keep government running. “We believe that we can get to agreement on these issues and prevent a government shutdown, and that’s our first responsibility,” he said. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., agreed. “We can’t shut the government down,” Schumer said, but to do that now “means we need CRs” rather than a “minibus” appropriations package Johnson recently floated.

SpaceX didn't comment Tuesday on FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's recent explanation that the Wireless Bureau rejected Starlink's application for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) money in 2022 (see 2208100050) because it didn't meet “program requirements,” including “difficulty meeting the basic uplink and downlink speed standards for the program.” Republicans escalated criticism of the FCC after the commission upheld the Wireline Bureau's decision in December (see 2312130027). All RDOF applicants “were subject to the same rules -- the smallest carriers and largest carriers alike,” Rosenworcel told House Communications Subcommittee member Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida and 11 other Republicans in letters released Friday night. The GOP lawmakers pressed the issue in January. The Wireline Bureau's finding about Starlink's speed issues “has since been confirmed by the company’s most recent publicly available performance data,” Rosenworcel said: The bureau found Starlink “showed download speeds from 53-65 Mbps and upload speeds from 7-10 Mbps. As a result, the Commission concluded that Starlink would not be reasonably capable of meeting its performance obligations across the significantly larger customer base and service area it had committed to serving as a result of its winning RDOF bids, which would put even greater pressure on its network.” Starlink’s “proposal would have required every subscriber to purchase a $600 dish to simply start to receive the service,” she said. “No other services supported by the program included such high start-up costs on rural consumers.” The FCC's “review indicated that in more than 6,501 census blocks where Starlink sought support from the RDOF program were not unserved rural households, but actually parking lots, traffic medians, and locations that already have service like the Chicago Loop and Newark International Airport,” Rosenworcel said: “When we requested that Starlink no longer seek funding for these locations, the company refused.”