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.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr attempted to strike a balance during his Thursday post-commission meeting news conference in his response to a question about where he stands in the battle that Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is waging against DOD opposition to reallocating any military-controlled spectrum for commercial wireless use (see 2502190068). Carr said policymakers “can find a path forward” to increase spectrum availability that will also “fully protect the interests of our national security” and DOD.
Backers of federal funding for next-generation 911 tech upgrades told us they remain hopeful that lawmakers will reach an agreement on a spectrum title in a budget reconciliation measure that allocates some revenue from future FCC sales to those projects. GOP leaders have been pushing to reserve that money entirely as an offset for tax cuts initially enacted during the first Trump administration (see 2502190068). Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz of Texas and other Republicans are emphasizing auction proceeds as a reconciliation funding source after repeatedly opposing several spectrum packages during the last Congress that used the potential money to pay for a range of telecom projects (see 2308100058).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr told reporters Wednesday that he gave the 175-member House-side Republican Study Committee a “soup-to-nuts” closed-door briefing on his agenda, which participants said also touched on his opinion of the commission’s actions under former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that drew frequent GOP derision. The House Commerce Committee, meanwhile, voted 29-19 along party lines late Tuesday night to adopt its oversight plan for the 119th Congress after a sometimes-rancorous debate over Democrats’ unsuccessful amendment that would expand the panel’s scrutiny of the FCC to include investigating “any instances in which the Commission or its officers, employees, or agents engages in or facilitates censorship or otherwise interferes with” freedom of speech (see 2502250065).
House Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger of Texas confirmed to us Tuesday that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr will speak at the group’s Wednesday lunch meeting. Lobbyists noted reports that Carr would brief RSC about the commission’s investigation of Audacy’s KCBS San Francisco concerning the station’s broadcasting locations and identifying details of vehicles involved in an undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in January (see 2502050051).
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., probed White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director nominee Michael Kratsios’ views on repurposing midband spectrum during his Tuesday confirmation hearing. The tone of the lawmakers' questions reflected their disagreement about whether a spectrum title in a budget reconciliation package should involve reallocating parts of the DOD-controlled 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2502190068). Both cited Kratsios’ role as U.S. chief technology officer during the first Trump administration because it made him part of the White House and DOD's joint America’s Mid-Band Initiative Team. AMBIT worked in 2020 to allow sharing in the 3.45-3.55 GHz band (see 2010130033).
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told us Monday night that he is unlikely to bring up for floor action this week a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval (S.J.Res. 7) to undo the FCC's July 2024 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services. “We're doing” two other non-telecom CRA measures this week, led by Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and John Kennedy, R-La., Thune said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told us Monday night that he is unlikely to bring up for floor action this week a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval (S.J.Res. 7) to undo the FCC's July 2024 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services. Reports circulated Friday that Senate leaders were eyeing floor action as soon as this week on S.J.Res. 7. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz of Texas and 12 other panel Republicans filed the CRA measure in late January.
Senate Commerce Committee leaders said Thursday night they have designated Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., as Communications Subcommittee chair and Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., as ranking member, as expected (see 2412180052). Lujan chaired the subpanel during the two previous Congresses. Lobbyists said Fischer's elevation to the Senate Communications gavel will further amplify the importance of her vehement opposition to reallocating DOD-controlled spectrum, particularly the 3.1-3.45 GHz band (see 2501070069). Also a senior Armed Services Committee member, Fischer emphasized that position during a Wednesday Senate Commerce hearing, which again put her at odds with panel Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas (see 2502190068).
Jones Day’s Yaakov Roth, husband of NTIA nominee Arielle Roth, withdrew Thursday as counsel to Maurine and Matthew Molak in their challenge in the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of a 2023 FCC declaratory ruling (docket 23-60641) clarifying that Wi-Fi on school buses is an educational purpose eligible for E-rate funding (see 2411040061). Jones Day’s David Suska will still represent the Molaks, Yaakov Roth said in a letter to the 5th Circuit. Some lobbyists wondered whether the NTIA nominee’s Senate Commerce Committee critics would mention Yaakov Roth because of his role in the Molaks’ E-rate challenge and because he argued on behalf of plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of West Virginia v. EPA, which led the court in 2022 to fully adopt the “major questions” doctrine (see 2502040056).