The House plans votes this week under suspension of the rules on the Promoting U.S. Wireless Leadership Act (HR-1377), an amended version of the Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act (HR-3293) and Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act (HR-3343). The House Commerce Committee advanced the three measures last year. HR-1377 would direct NTIA to encourage U.S. companies and others to participate in international standards-setting bodies (see 2303240065). HR-3293 would direct NTIA to lead an interagency strike force to help prioritize reviews for communications use authorization requests to deploy on federal land (see 2305240069). HR-3343 would require NTIA to submit a plan to Congress for tracking acceptance and processing of communications use authorizations on federal property. In addition, it would require that NTIA identify any barriers to that plan and how to increase transparency for authorization applicants.

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Thursday the panel will “swiftly” go through the vetting and confirmation process for Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, President-elect Donald Trump’s planned commerce secretary nominee, and other current and potential picks once Cruz becomes chairman in January. Trump said Wednesday night he plans to name former Arizona Senate and gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) to lead Voice of America. In addition, he said he would nominate a new head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, who will technically be the one to appoint Lake to the VOA role. Current VOA Director Michael Abramowitz took office over the summer (see 2404190020). “We will both thoroughly vet new nominees and … swiftly confirm them, responsibly carrying out the Senate’s advice and consent role,” Cruz said ahead of Senate Commerce votes to advance a raft of Biden nominees. Senate Commerce in part advanced CPB board nominees Felix Sanchez and Adam White (see 2412060051). Senate Commerce and “others have often even held nomination hearings prior to the inauguration” of a president, including in the lead-up to when President Joe Biden took office in 2021, Cruz said. The panel has also “voted on cabinet nominees … within a week of their hearings.” He intends “to follow a similar practice for nominations next Congress and to work to move qualified and competent nominees expeditiously.”

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released a draft version of his Secure American Communications Act Tuesday in a bid to strengthen U.S. networks’ cybersecurity amid the fallout from the Chinese government-led Salt Typhoon hack (see 2411190073). The measure would require that the FCC implement security conditions for telecom carriers that Congress originally mandated in the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. Lawmakers called in CALEA Section 105 for the FCC to require that telecom companies secure their systems against unauthorized intrusions, but the commission has never fully implemented this provision, Wyden’s office said. The draft bill would, in part, require carriers to annually test whether their networks and systems are vulnerable to cyberattack or other unauthorized intrusions. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated a draft declaratory ruling last week to commissioners finding that Section 105 requires that telecom carriers secure their networks against cyberattacks (see 2412050044). “It was inevitable that foreign hackers would burrow deep into the American communications system the moment the FCC decided to let phone companies write their own cybersecurity rules,” Wyden said. “Telecom companies and federal regulators were asleep on the job and as a result, Americans’ calls, messages, and phone records have been accessed by foreign spies intent on undermining our national security. Congress needs to step up and pass mandatory security rules to finally secure our telecom system against an infestation of hackers and spies.” Wyden’s release of the draft came hours before Rosenworcel and federal intelligence officials were scheduled to brief House lawmakers on the Salt Typhoon hack. They briefed senators last week.

House Health Subcommittee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., cited work to “beat China” and “protect our children online” Monday night as among his Commerce Committee priorities for the next Congress after the House Republican Steering Committee said earlier in the afternoon it selected him as the panel's next chairman (see 2412090072). Guthrie prevailed in the Commerce gavel race over current Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, who is term-limited out of that role at the end of this Congress. The full House GOP conference still must sign off on Guthrie’s selection, but this is typically a formality. Guthrie said Monday night he is “honored that my colleagues have selected me to serve as” the next Commerce chairman. He plans to “work alongside” President-elect Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and other GOP leaders to “deliver on our America First agenda.” A Congressional Spectrum Caucus co-chair and a past House Communications member, Guthrie said earlier this year an airwaves legislative package would be a top priority if he became Commerce chairman, and it didn't already pass this year (see 2404110059). Guthrie also backs a Universal Service Fund revamp (see 2411270060). Retiring House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., praised Guthrie's “leadership, determination, and policy acumen.” She is “confident that he will rise to this historic moment of unified Republican control of government to deliver on issues and policies at the forefront of powering our economy,” including on tech issues. Latta also applauded Guthrie, as did several communications industry groups. USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter said Guthrie’s “leadership and dedication to expanding broadband access have been instrumental in connecting communities across the nation.” As Commerce chairman, Guthrie “will bring focus and common sense leadership as we work together to advance our shared goal of universal connectivity,” Spalter said. NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield said Guthrie “understands firsthand the needs of rural communities and the benefits of connectivity for commerce, education and healthcare in these areas.” In a statement, Competitive Carriers Association CEO Tim Donovan praised Guthrie for being “a longtime leader on spectrum, security and rural connectivity issues.”

The Senate Commerce Committee plans Dec. 12 votes on CPB board nominees Felix Sanchez and Adam White, the panel said Thursday night. President Joe Biden nominated Sanchez, the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts chairman, to the CPB board last year for a term expiring Jan. 31, 2028 (see 2303060056). Biden nominated White, an American Enterprise Institute senior fellow, in November (see 2411140012). Senate Commerce’s meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.

A Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) official said Thursday that Congress and President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency advisory commission should consider consolidating what it said are 133 federal broadband programs into a single initiative. DOGE leads Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy met with a range of GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill Thursday as they continued eyeing how to trim up to $2 trillion in federal spending. In late November, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, urged Musk and Ramaswamy to recommend that lawmakers “pull the plug” on the $42.5 billion NTIA-led BEAD program (see 2412030050). Continued existence of “133 broadband programs across 15 agencies is clearly excessive and wasteful,” Deborah Collier, CAGW vice president-policy and government affairs, said in a blog post. “It is time for these programs to be scrutinized, so taxpayers are no longer forced to pay for those that are inefficient and ineffective and support the few that will not only work as intended but also deploy broadband to every remaining unserved and underserved business and household across the country that wishes to be connected to the internet.” Ernst urged that DOGE and Congress assess each broadband program “by determining if it is operating as intended; if it duplicates or overlaps with another program or another agency; if the program’s administrators are requiring the money to be spent to achieve goals that are outside of the statute establishing the program; if the program’s goals are still current in today’s market; whether the program’s objectives can be achieved by the private sector; and if it can be consolidated with a better managed program in another agency.”

The Senate unanimously passed the Access to Capital Creates Economic Strength and Supports Rural America Act (S-3242) Wednesday night, drawing praise from NTCA. The measure and House companion HR-4360 would exempt small telecom companies from several SEC filing requirements, including raising the number of investors that would trigger some SEC requirements for telecom companies that receive "support, directly through an affiliate, through any Federal universal service support" mechanism. S-3242 lead sponsors Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, hailed the measure’s passage. It “cuts red tape for our small broadband providers and helps them expand reliable, affordable internet to more families and small businesses across Wisconsin,” Baldwin said. “I’m grateful my bipartisan effort to cut regulations, reduce unnecessary requirements, and unleash local telecom companies passed the Senate,” Ernst said. NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield said S-3242 “will help relieve … smaller, locally owned companies with limited resources” from SEC requirements “intended for larger, publicly traded firms.” The measure will “enable small providers to focus more on their core mission of deploying and operating advanced broadband networks in rural areas,” she said.

The Senate Communications Subcommittee plans a Dec. 11 hearing on telecom network security issues, the Commerce Committee said Wednesday. Communications policy lobbyists told us Senate Commerce leaders want the hearing to amplify the push for a year-end vehicle appropriating $3.08 billion to fully fund the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (see 2411190064) amid some signs that chamber leaders are moving closer to agreeing to attach the money to a legislative package. Competitive Carriers Association CEO Tim Donovan, a major rip-and-replace funding proponent, is among those set to testify. Also on the witness docket: James Lewis, Center for Strategic and International Studies Technology and Public Policy Program director, and Global Cyber Strategies CEO Justin Sherman. The Senate Communications hearing will begin at 2:30 p.m. in 253 Russell. Lobbyists said the panel is also likely to focus on the “Salt Typhoon” Chinese government-affiliated effort to hack U.S. telecom networks (see 2411190073). FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and other Biden administration officials were briefing senators on the matter behind closed doors at our deadline.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel last week again called for Congress to appropriate an additional $3.08 billion to fully fund the commission’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. Lawmakers are eyeing a range of legislative vehicles for allocating the additional rip-and-replace money during Congress’ lame-duck session, but some leaders are skeptical a deal is possible (see 2411190064). Thirty program participants certified with the FCC by Nov. 20 “that the removal, replacement, and disposal work … has been completed,” but “many have additional invoices to submit should Congress appropriate additional funding,” Rosenworcel said in letters to the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees and Appropriations Financial Services subcommittees released Monday. The commission has been prorating payments to program participants absent additional appropriations (see 2305040085). As of Nov. 20, the FCC “granted 139 extensions” for participants to complete the rip-and-replace work beyond statutory deadlines, “including 118 based in whole or in part on the funding shortfall,” Rosenworcel told lawmakers. “Some participants … have informed the Commission that they fear that they may need to shut down portions of their networks and withdraw from this process without completing the removal of insecure equipment” if Congress doesn’t allocate the rest of the money. Competitive Carriers Association CEO Tim Donovan, a vocal backer of the program, said in a statement the “lack of necessary funding, as detailed in [Rosenworcel’s] letter, is alarming and far-reaching.” Some participants “have already shut down portions of their networks” and the lack of full funding “poses grave risks to U.S. national security, as insecure foreign-made communications equipment remains operational.”

Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., led filing Friday of a Senate companion version of the DiasporaLink Act (HR-3385). The measure, which the House passed in March, would direct NTIA to research the feasibility of building an undersea fiber cable between the U.S. and Africa. “Every day, China is laying the groundwork to dominate Africa by controlling internet infrastructure,” Kennedy said. “Beijing is building undersea cables for intelligence transmission, financial transactions and more. This bipartisan bill would help the U.S. defend American interests and support our friends in Africa against the predations of Communist” China. Warnock said, “This bipartisan effort is a crucial first step in strengthening America’s global leadership in the telecommunications space -- something that impacts our daily lives in an increasingly digital world.”