National Religious Broadcasters CEO Troy Miller will lobby on Capitol Hill this week for the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979/S-315), the group said Monday. The bill would require the Department of Transportation to mandate that future automobiles include AM radio technology, mostly affecting electric vehicles. House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., expects the Commerce Committee to vote to advance HR-979 before Congress’ August recess (see 2507020062). The Senate Commerce Committee advanced a revised version of S-315 in February with the addition of a 10-year sunset for the measure, which led Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., to drop his previous opposition (see 2502100072).

The House passed the Precision Agriculture Satellite Connectivity Act (HR-1618) and five other Commerce Committee-cleared telecom bills Monday on voice votes. The others: the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act (HR-1455), Communications Security Act (HR-1717), Promoting U.S. Wireless Leadership Act (HR-1765), NTIA Policy and Cybersecurity Coordination Act (HR-1766) and Open Radio Access Networks Outreach Act (HR-2037). The chamber was also expected to vote as soon as Monday night on the Understanding Cybersecurity of Mobile Networks Act (HR-1709).

The House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee’s FY 2026 budget bill, released Monday, would allocate $47 million to NTIA, including $1 million for facilities management and construction. That mirrors President Donald Trump's request in June (see 2506020056) and is 20% less than NTIA got for FY 2024 and FY 2025 (see 2403040083). House Appropriations CJS calls for giving the National Institute of Standards and Technology $1.28 billion, an 11% increase from FY24 and FY25, and the Patent Office slightly less than $5 billion, 10% above its previous allotment. CJS proposes $310 million for the DOJ Antitrust Division. The subpanel plans to mark up its bill at noon Tuesday in 2362-B Rayburn.

Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., are urging Republican FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty to “insist that the FCC conduct” its review of Skydance’s proposed $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global “with the utmost transparency, including holding a full Commission vote on any order to approve the merger.” Some observers believe Paramount recently agreed to a $16 million settlement of President Donald Trump's lawsuit against CBS, which challenged its editing of a 60 Minutes interview last October with former Vice President Kamala Harris during the election, to ease the path to FCC approval of the deal. Paramount has refuted those claims (see 2507020053).

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, postponed the panel’s Thursday markup of its FY 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee funding bill after Democrats successfully attached an amendment that would bar using federal money to relocate the FBI’s headquarters to anywhere other than the previously approved location in Greenbelt, Maryland. Senate Appropriations initially voted 21-6 to advance the bill, which will include annual funding for NTIA and other Commerce Department agencies. The total later narrowed after the panel voted 15-14 to attach the FBI amendment. Collins then said she was calling a “long recess” that postponed action on the measure.

Senate Commerce Committee members John Curtis, R-Utah, and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., filed the Taiwan Undersea Cable Resilience Initiative Act on Wednesday to protect that country’s communications infrastructure against Chinese sabotage. The bill would mandate that DOD, the departments of State and Homeland Security, and the U.S. Coast Guard jointly deploy real-time monitoring systems and other measures to defend Taiwan’s undersea cables. It would also direct State to “encourage and support the hardening” of undersea cables near Taiwan and direct the U.S. to work with “like-minded international partners” to counter Chinese government sabotage of that infrastructure, including by imposing sanctions.

A Thursday reshuffle of Republican House Commerce Committee leaders didn’t affect the heads of the Communications and Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade subcommittees. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., retained the House Communications gavel, with Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga., as vice chairman. Meanwhile, Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., will remain as CMT chairman, with Rep. Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, as vice chairman. The House Commerce reshuffle, instigated after Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., resigned as Health Subcommittee chairman, resulted in Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., becoming committee vice chairman. It also had Rep. John Joyce, R-Pa., leaving House Communications and Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., rejoining the subpanel.

The House on Thursday narrowly passed the Senate-cleared version of the HR-1 budget reconciliation package, previously known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (see 2507010070). Passage came after a marathon all-night session, during which most Republicans who had previously resisted backing the measure ultimately voted for it amid pressure and cajoling from GOP leadership and President Donald Trump. The lower chamber approved HR-1 218-214, with only two Republicans joining all 212 Democrats in opposition.

House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., told us Wednesday that he expects the Commerce Committee to mark up his AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979) in July, before Congress begins its month-plus August recess. HR-979 and Senate companion S-315 would require the Department of Transportation to mandate AM radio technology's inclusion in future automobiles, mostly affecting electric vehicles. The Senate Commerce Committee advanced a revised version of S-315 in February with the addition of a 10-year sunset for the measure, which led Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., to drop his previous opposition to its passage (see 2502100072). Bilirakis cautioned that House Commerce leaders haven't given him an ironclad commitment they will bring up HR-979 this month but added that he has gotten “very positive feedback” it will happen.

Senate GOP aides said Friday afternoon that chamber leaders aimed to hold an initial vote Saturday on a motion to proceed to the chamber’s combined budget reconciliation package, which includes the Commerce Committee’s revised proposal for an 800 MHz spectrum pipeline and restoration of the FCC’s lapsed auction authority through Sept. 30, 2034 (see 2506060029). Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, secured backing last week for the spectrum proposal from a pair of Armed Services Republicans after he strengthened the original proposal’s carve-outs excluding the 3.1-3.45 GHz and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands from potential FCC auction or other reallocation (see 2506250054).