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).
NTCA on Wednesday praised House Ways and Means Tax Subcommittee Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., for leading the refiling of the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (HR-1873/S-674) in a bid to amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow broadband grants enacted via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and American Rescue Plan Act to not count as gross income. Lawmakers bowed the bill in 2022 (see 2209290067). NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield hailed reintroduction of “this commonsense legislation to ensure that every dollar granted for broadband deployment is used effectively.” The group’s members “greatly appreciate Congress’s commitment to funding broadband deployment programs,” but “when these funds are taxed, providers are required to pay the federal government a portion of the same award that they received from the federal government, instead of using the funds to serve the hardest-to-reach communities.”
The FAA plans to respond “directly to” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., concerning his letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about the agency's proposed purchase of technology to communicate aviation weather information from SpaceX's Starlink, given CEO Elon Musk's influence within the Trump administration, a spokesperson said Friday (see 2502280055). The FAA is reportedly considering canceling a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon for that technology in favor of Starlink. House Transportation Committee ranking member Rick Larsen, D-Wash., and Aviation Subcommittee member Sharice Davids, D-Kan., are also criticizing the proposal.
The House Commerce Committee said Saturday that it plans a vote Tuesday on the Precision Agriculture Satellite Connectivity Act (HR-1618) and six other telecom bills as part of a markup session.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Senate Homeland Security Committee member Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., are raising concerns about the FAA's proposed purchase of technology to communicate aviation weather information from SpaceX's Starlink, given CEO Elon Musk's influence within the Trump administration. The FAA is reportedly considering canceling a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon for that technology in favor of Starlink. Blumenthal pressed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Thursday night for “information and records” about the Starlink deal, which he said would potentially deliver “a windfall” to Musk.
House Oversight Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., told us Wednesday that she has firmed up a late March date for a hearing with PBS CEO Paula Kerger and NPR CEO Katherine Maher to examine claims that public broadcasters’ content has a pro-Democratic bias (see 2502030064). Greene earlier this month proposed March 24 as one potential date for the hearing. The panel will take place amid growing GOP interest in ending federal funding for the broadcasters.
Former Republican FCC Commissioners Harold Furchtgott-Roth and Mike O’Rielly were among 10 officials who jointly endorsed GOP FCC nominee Olivia Trusty on Wednesday. In January, then-President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to nominate Trusty, a Senate Armed Services Committee Republican staffer, to the FCC seat that former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel vacated (see 2501160064).
The House Communications Subcommittee scheduled a March 5 hearing that lobbyists expect will examine how lawmakers can revamp the NTIA-administered, $42.5 billion BEAD program, which panel Republicans’ notice called former President Joe Biden’s “Broadband Blunder.” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz of Texas, House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky and other GOP leaders have been eyeing a revamp of BEAD (see 2501150056) after repeatedly criticizing NTIA’s rollout of the program under then-Administrator Alan Davidson. Cruz said in November that the 119th Congress would review BEAD and requirements that have drawn GOP criticism. He sought a “pause” in NTIA BEAD activity ahead of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House (see 2411220035). The House Communications hearing will begin at 2 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
Free Press co-CEOs Jessica Gonzalez and Craig Aaron urged the Senate Commerce Committee to "refuse to ratify" President Donald Trump's FTC and FCC picks ahead of a Tuesday hearing with FTC nominee Mark Meador, a former staffer for Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and FCC nominee Olivia Trusty, who was an aide to Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. Gonzalez and Aaron said in a Monday blog that the committee should not act "unless and until the Trump administration reverses course, guarantees the independence of expert agencies, disavows any plans to remove sitting commissioners, and respects the separation of powers." They also urged the Senate Commerce Committee to "haul in" FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson to "answer for their actions before giving them even more power to abuse." The Trump administration is "threatening to remove sitting commissioners without cause, slashing budgets with abandon, and sacking staff without authority or due process," the co-CEOs said. "It’s a brazen abuse of executive power designed to settle political scores and undermine the long history of bipartisan deliberation and debate that informs decision-making at these essential agencies."
Kyle Zebley, the American Telemedicine Association's senior vice president-public policy, sought Friday to ease concerns of Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and others that Medicare could stop covering most telehealth services on April 1. A December continuing resolution to extend appropriations to the FCC and other federal agencies through March 14 also temporarily prolonged some temporary rules changes, giving Medicare recipients eligibility for telehealth services until March 31 (see 2412230024). Zebley said Friday that “conversations on Capitol Hill confirm that President [Donald] Trump and his team are actively working with Congress to extend vital telehealth flexibilities beyond” March 31.