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).

The Senate Commerce Committee advanced White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director nominee Michael Kratsios and FTC nominee Mark Meador on Wednesday, with some panel Democrats joining all Republicans in supporting President Donald Trump’s picks. Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and seven other Democrats voted against Meador. Cantwell noted that Meador “hedged” in his responses to questions from her and other Democrats about whether he would “refuse to carry out illegal orders from” Trump. “The answer from any nominee should simply be ‘no,’” she said: “I just don’t believe today that [Meador] is the right person for the FTC. We need somebody who believes that they’re not just a rubber stamp for the president, but have responsibilities and duties to carry out.”

Senate Commerce Committee member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said during Tuesday's Incompas event (see 2503110058) that until mid-December, he “expected” that the Senate Communications Subcommittee chairmanship would be “my job.” That reflects comments he and then-Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., made during a December hearing on the Salt Typhoon Chinese government-affiliated effort at hacking U.S. telecom networks (see 2412170053). Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska ultimately got the job after she became eligible for it by relinquishing her role as lead Rules Committee Republican to now-former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Moran said.

House Appropriations Committee Republicans bowed a continuing resolution (HR-1968) Saturday that would extend current federal funding levels for the FCC, NTIA and other agencies through Sept. 30, the end of FY 2025. The measure, if passed, would avert a government shutdown that would otherwise begin when an existing CR expires after midnight Friday. HR-1968 would also extend through Sept. 30 some temporary rules changes that give Medicare recipients eligibility for telehealth services. Lawmakers raised concerns last month that Congress’ failure to extend the temporary rules change via the current CR would mean Medicare eligibility for telehealth services would expire April 1 (see 2502200065). Congress enacted the expanded telehealth rules during the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2006170065).

Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on Sunday urged deputy defense secretary nominee Stephen Feinberg to recuse himself from all DOD interactions involving Ligado amid the company’s L-band lawsuit against the department. Feinberg’s Cerberus Capital Management holds a 14% stake in Ligado, which alleges that DOD is infringing on its L-band spectrum rights and manufactured concerns about possible interference with GPS as a cover-up (see 2310130004). The U.S. Court of Federal Claims in late February granted a U.S. request for an interlocutory appeal of the court's November decision to partially reject the U.S.'s motion to dismiss Ligado's litigation (see 2502280040).

The Senate Commerce Committee has apparently pushed back the confirmation hearing for NTIA nominee Arielle Roth and Republican FCC nominee Olivia Trusty, several communications sector officials and lobbyists told us Friday. The panel was eyeing March 13 for the hearing (see 2503060066). A new date was not circulating Friday, but some lobbyists expect the hearing to happen later this month. Lobbyists were not certain why Senate Commerce decided to postpone, but some previously noted that it was uncertain whether the panel would be able to include Trusty on March 13's agenda. A Senate Commerce Democratic spokesperson said Thursday afternoon that the minority office still hadn't received the necessary executive branch paperwork to move either nominee forward. President Donald Trump nominated Roth, Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, in early February (see 2502040056). He picked Trusty, a Senate Armed Services Committee Republican staffer, for the FCC seat former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel vacated Jan. 20 (see 2501160077).