The FCC posted on Thursday the drafts for all the items teed up for votes at the commission’s Aug. 7 open meeting. Most have a deregulatory bent.

The House was all but certain to sign off Thursday night on a revised version of its 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4) retaining a clawback of $1.1 billion in advance CPB funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027 that the Senate passed 51-48 early that morning, as expected (see 2507160077). Senate passage of HR-4 followed several more unsuccessful bids to strip out the CPB language or dramatically reduce the amount of funding the measure rescinded. The Senate turned back several other Democratic-led CPB amendments Wednesday.

Congressional Democrats are calling attention to reports that Fox News in June 2024 aired an edited version of an interview with now-President Donald Trump, with some citing it as a reason for the FCC to end what they see as partisan probes of CBS and other media outlets. House Oversight Committee ranking member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., asked Fox Corp. Chairman Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott Thursday to explain the organization’s decision to air only part of Trump's answer to a question about whether he would release files related to accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Industry groups disagreed on the steps the FCC should take to close a “gap” in the commission’s Stir/Shaken authentication rules, making it harder for scammers to hide their identities. CTIA warned of unintended consequences, while other comments asked the commission to move quickly and resolutely.