The recently relaunched bipartisan congressional working group studying a USF legislative revamp is seeking a new round of stakeholder comments about how to proceed and has opened a portal for submissions, Senate Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said Friday. Meanwhile, the Digital Progress Institute said in a white paper Thursday that USF's current contribution mechanism is “unsustainable” and “horrendously inefficient.”
Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., urged new NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth on Thursday “to immediately restore” $550 million allocated for the fifth year of funding for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's Digital Equity Act program, which President Donald Trump suspended in May (see 2505090051), “and swiftly approve and release BEAD funding to states like New Mexico.” Lujan and other Senate Commerce Committee Democrats cited Roth's lack of clear answers on the administration's plans for the $42.5 billion BEAD program as a reason to vote against advancing her confirmation in April (see 2504090037). The Senate confirmed Roth last week (2507230064).
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., on Thursday filed the Modernization, Accountability and Planning for Broadband Funding Act in a bid to increase oversight of the FCC's broadband funding map. The bill would direct the FCC to conduct a notice of inquiry on the map’s function and the data it displays for maximum usability. The notice would assess whether there need to be updates to the map based on user feedback. The measure would also direct the Government Accountability Office to evaluate whether federal agencies are providing data for the map in compliance with current law and would identify any reporting gaps.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., led the refiling Thursday of the NOAA Weather Radio Modernization Act, as expected (see 2507300029). The bill, which the Senate approved by unanimous consent in 2023, would require NOAA to upgrade infrastructure to improve reliable transmission of emergency alerts and reduce the system’s use of copper wire transmissions (see 2312190081). Senate Homeland Security Committee ranking member Gary Peters, D-Mich., signed on as a co-sponsor, along with three other Commerce members: Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Wednesday that he and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., “will soon introduce together legislation to modernize NOAA Weather Radio warning systems.” Lobbyists told us the measure is likely to be identical to the NOAA Weather Radio Modernization Act filed by Cruz and then-Chair Cantwell during the last Congress. That bill, which the Senate approved by unanimous consent in 2023, would have required NOAA to upgrade infrastructure to improve reliable transmission of emergency alerts and reduce the system’s use of copper wire transmissions (see 2312190081). It also would have required increasing NOAA Weather Radio coverage to 98-99% of the U.S. population, including more rural areas.
Govs. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., and Henry McMaster, R-S.C., co-chairs of the National Governors Association, urged the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees to prioritize broadband deployment as part of the FY 2026 funding process. “We understand the critical role that reliable and accessible internet connectivity plays in bridging the digital divide in our communities,” Beshear and McMaster said in a letter to Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., and their Democratic ranking members.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said Tuesday it plans to release an unclassified 2022 report it commissioned on U.S. telecom networks’ security vulnerabilities amid a renewed pressure campaign from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. The Senate on Monday night passed by unanimous consent Wyden’s Telecom Cybersecurity Transparency Act (S-2480) to force the CISA report’s release, but the measure still requires approval from the House, which is on recess until Sept. 2. Wyden has also placed a hold on CISA director nominee Sean Plankey, which would prevent a swift confirmation process if the Homeland Security Committee advances him Wednesday.
Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., launched a probe Tuesday of the federal government’s review of Skydance's $8 billion purchase of Paramount Global amid other Democrats’ corruption claims about the deal (see 2507250029). Meanwhile, the Freedom of the Press Foundation wants the disciplinary body for the D.C. Bar to investigate whether FCC Chairman Brendan Carr violated the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct in his handling of the Skydance/Paramount deal (see 2507290060).
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Monday to block transnational criminal groups’ access to the company’s Starlink satellite broadband service in a bid to cut it off as a fraud vector. She noted a recent Wired report about scam operations in Myanmar, Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia that used Starlink as their ISP. SpaceX didn’t immediately comment.
President Donald Trump signed the 2025 Rescissions Act, formally clawing back $1.1 billion in advance CPB funding (see 2507180048), the White House said Thursday night. Trump had long been expected to approve the bill given the administration sought the rollbacks in early June (see 2506030065). The president in May issued an executive order instructing CPB to cease funding NPR and PBS (see 2505020044).