A draft order on collecting broadcaster and cable workforce diversity data using form 395-B has been circulated to the 10th floor, according to FCC officials and the agency’s circulation webpage, just a week after a call for action from 27 Democratic lawmakers and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. The EEO item was teed up by a 2021 NPRM and has long been a pet project for Starks. Public interest groups and NAB have disagreed about how the data should be handled after the FCC collects it. Groups such as Common Cause want the data to be publicly available in an online portal searchable by station, while broadcasters have said the information should be anonymized. It's not yet clear what position the draft takes. The circulated item includes a report and order and a Further NPRM, according to the circulation listing.

The FCC approved the 2018 quadrennial review order 3-2, according to an FCC official. The agency didn’t comment, and the order hasn’t yet been released. An FCC official confirmed that both FCC Republicans opposed the item. The order extends the agency’s prohibition on commonly owned top-four full-power network stations in a single market to include top-four programming streams, broadcast over multicast streams and low-power TV stations, according to FCC officials. Language has been added to the order since its circulation to make it clear that broadcasters can receive waivers of the ownership rules, an FCC official told us. Broadcasters are widely expected to challenge the order in court.

President Joe Biden signed off Tuesday on the 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement Act (S-2787), as expected, the White House said. The measure, which the House passed last week, gives the FCC authority for 90 days to issue T-Mobile and other winning bidders the licenses they bought in the 2.5 GHz band auction last year. Lawmakers viewed the measure as a stopgap measure, required after months of stalled Capitol Hill talks on a broader legislative package that would renew the FCC’s lapsed general auction authority.

NTIA approved volume 2 of Louisiana’s initial proposal for the broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, making it the first state to receive full approval, the federal agency said. On a video conference with reporters Thursday, outgoing Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said he has no concerns that Gov.-elect Jeff Landry (R) “will depart from the commitment that we have made in our submission.”

With NTIA approval, Louisiana may now execute on its plan. "We're going to deliver the plan that we submitted and ... be faithful to it,” said Edwards. “We will start executing shovel-ready projects in 2024 under the BEAD program.” The state plans to spend $2.25 billion on broadband between now and 2029, he added. The state’s plan “strikes the right balance between affordability, reliability and access,” the governor said. “So I just have no reason to believe, and I am not at all worried” that Landry will do anything other than “clawing forward diligently … with fidelity to the plan that we have submitted.”

NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson has a “quick word” for other states and territories, he said. “Be like Louisiana.” All initial proposals are due Dec. 27. Expect NTIA to issue approvals for plans submitted at deadline in April and May, he said. “I think in the spring we’ll have all the plans approved.”

The FCC's reaffirming that SpaceX doesn't qualify for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program is in direct contravention to the agency's supposed prioritization of closing the digital divide, SpaceX told the agency Tuesday night after the FCC announced that the commissioners had voted 3-2 to uphold a Wireline Bureau decision that SpaceX couldn't participate in RDOF. That order "fails to explain how the Commission will bridge the connectivity gap that the Order leaves open by excluding the one provider that can rapidly accomplish this goal, while approving RDOF 'winners' that have already acknowledged they will not be able to do so," SpaceX said. Voting against the order were the two minority commissioners. Commissioner Brendan Carr posted on X that the decision was "regulatory harassment of Elon Musk." In his dissent, Commissioner Nathan Simington said he "was disappointed by this wrongheaded decision when it was first announced, but the majority today lays bare just how thoroughly and lawlessly arbitrary it was. If this is what passes for due process and the rule of law at the FCC, then this agency ought not to be trusted with the adjudicatory powers Congress has granted it and the deference that the courts have given it."

The House will vote as soon as Monday on the Senate-passed version of the 5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement Act (S-2787), as expected, the office of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday night. The House Commerce Committee advanced identical companion HR-5677 Tuesday. HR-5677/S-2787 would give the FCC authority for 90 days to issue T-Mobile and other winning bidders the licenses they bought in the 2.5 GHz band auction last year. Spectrum policy observers view the measure as a stopgap to temporarily bring back a small part of the FCC’s lapsed auction authority after nearly nine months of stalled legislative talks on Capitol Hill related to a broader legislative package. The House will consider S-2787 under suspension of the rules, which speeds floor consideration of noncontroversial bills but requires a two-thirds majority for passage.

The Joe Biden administration released its national spectrum strategy Monday and a presidential memorandum on modernizing U.S.policy is coming. Administration officials provided some of the details Monday morning on a call with reporters. The plan identifies 2,786 MHz of spectrum for potential repurposing,

The plan identifies the 3.1-3.45, 5.03-5.091, 7.125-8.4, 18.1-18.6 and 37.0-37.6 GHz bands for further study by NTIA over the next two years and for potential repurposing. The plan also proposes “evidence-based methodology for spectrum allocation decisions” and a national testbed for dynamic spectrum sharing to be launched within 12-18 months. The administration will establish a Spectrum Advisory Council “as the principal interagency forum for senior agency leaders to advise NTIA on spectrum policy,” the factsheet said.

“We received in an extensive public engagement process that NTIA conducted a wide range of suggestions for bands that we might study,” an administration official told reporters. The ones identified “are those that we’ve identified as the best near-term opportunities,” the official said. An official said the testbed won't duplicate work already being done.

“Our satellite systems, TVs, cellphones and wireless internet all depend on spectrum, as may countless future innovations that may not even be at the planning stage right now,” Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, said on the call. “For years, leaders in the private and public sectors have called for a spectrum strategy like this one,” she said.

“The National Strategy and Presidential Memorandum will guide decisions about how to allocate limited spectrum resources and ensure these decisions are made through a rigorous, transparent process, which is more important today than ever, as new technologies create increasing demands for spectrum,” said a factsheet on the documents set to be released: “Innovations ranging from 5G networks, to precision agriculture, to unmanned aerial vehicles, to moon missions take large amounts of spectrum to operate. Meeting the demands of innovation requires America’s spectrum policy to adapt and improve.”

The FCC would be able to remain open until Oct. 20 in the event of a government shutdown, the agency told staff in an email today, according to several FCC employees. The agency’s appropriation runs out Sept. 30, but the FCC has enough funds from other sources such as fees to pay all employees and contractors through close of business on Oct. 20, staff were told. The agency has been able to keep staff in the building while other federal agencies were furloughed during past government shutdowns. The FCC's next commissioners' meeting, where it's scheduled to vote on a controversial net neutrality NPRM, is Oct.19. The FCC didn’t immediately comment.

The FCC has 90 days to either complete the 2018 quadrennial review or show cause why the NAB’s petition for mandamus shouldn’t be granted, said an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Thursday evening. The order doesn’t grant NAB’s petition for mandamus but defers it until the 90-day period. Broadcast industry officials told us the court’s urging the agency to soon complete the 2018 QR is the result they wanted. The FCC didn’t immediately comment, but the agency had argued that its delay in completing the QR was justified.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Wednesday the FCC will take up an order on the use of very-low-power 6 GHz devices anywhere without location awareness or automated frequency control, at the commissioners' meeting Oct. 19. As expected, the FCC isn’t addressing at this time increasing the power at which low-power indoor access points may operate. Both uses were teed up in 2020 Further NPRM.

“Wi-Fi connectivity over unlicensed spectrum is the oxygen that sustains much of our everyday lives,” Rosenworcel said in her note on the October meeting. “To enable new applications and services using these airwaves, the Commission will consider a proposal to allow Very Low Power devices to operate in two portions of the 6 GHz band. Permitting this added flexibility in the 6 GHz band could empower enhanced learning opportunities, advance healthcare opportunities, and bring new entertainment experiences.”

October's FCC open meeting agenda will include a draft NPRM proposing what would largely be a return of the agency's 2015 net neutrality rules under Title II authority, commission officials told the media in a call Tuesday. The NPRM, to be released publicly Thursday, would forebear from rate regulation and network bundling requirements while also preserving the agency's national security authority to block authorizations of companies controlled by an adversarial foreign government, they said. Asked about what market failures necessitate a return of such rules, they said ISPs are already regulated but by a patchwork of state laws, government contracting policies and executive orders. They said what the FCC is putting forward instead would be a uniform national standard, and seeks comment on how to do that. Asked about how such regulation might fare under the current U.S. Supreme Court and its major questions doctrine, they said agency classification of broadband under the Communications Act goes back to the 1990s and has been upheld by federal courts on multiple occasions, so the Title II approach has strong legal grounding. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is scheduled to give an address this afternoon at 2:30 EDT elaborating on the NPRM.

Anna Gomez is now an FCC commissioner, having been sworn in Monday. She was confirmed by the Senate earlier this month. "As the first Latina to serve in this position in over two decades, it is especially meaningful to be sworn in as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month," she said in a statement. "I look forward to working with Congress, Chairwoman [Jessica] Rosenworcel, my fellow Commissioners, and the talented and dedicated FCC staff to ensure that every person in every community, of every geography and income, has access to modern telecommunications services. I am eager to hear from all and to bring my experience in domestic and international telecommunications to serve the American people.” She said Rosenworcel's deputy chief of staff for administration, Deena Shetler, would be her acting chief of staff and media and international legal advisor. She said Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau staffer Edyael Casaperalta, would be acting legal advisor for wireless, public safety and consumer protection; Wireline Bureau staffer Hayley Steffen would be her wireline and space acting legal advisor; and Wireline Bureau staff assistant Anna Holland would be her acting executive assitant.

Steve Lang will replace Anna Gomez as head of the U.S. delegation to the World Radiocommunication Conference, numerous industry officials confirmed. An email went to members of the U.S. delegation Tuesday confirming the change. Gomez, whose nomination to the FCC was confirmed last week, was widely seen as facing a tough challenge trying to serve as a commissioner and also as the eventual ambassador to the WRC, which starts Nov. 20 in Dubai.

Lang, a longtime State Department employee, has been deputy assistant secretary-international information and communications policy since November.

The Senate voted 55-43 Thursday to invoke cloture on FCC nominee Anna Gomez, clearing procedural hurdle that puts the commission on the precipice of shifting to a Democratic majority for the first time since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. The commission has been in a 2-2 partisan tie throughout that period. Lobbyists expect the same or a near-identical result when the Senate votes on confirming Gomez. That vote is set to begin at 1:45 p.m. Eastern.

Gomez drew unanimous backing from the Senate Democratic caucus and only five Republicans, reflecting expectations that the nominee would get only minimal GOP support. The Republicans voting yes were Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Todd Young of Indiana.

The Senate voted 55-43 Thursday to confirm Anna Gomez to the FCC, paving the way for the commission to soon shift to a Democratic majority for the first time since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. The commission has been in a 2-2 partisan tie throughout that period. The chamber invoked cloture on Gomez by the same margin earlier in the afternoon.

Gomez drew unanimous backing from all 50 Senate Democratic caucus members present Thursday and only five Republicans, reflecting expectations that the nominee would get only minimal GOP support. The Republicans voting yes were Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Todd Young of Indiana. Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., didn't vote.

Public Knowledge CEO Chris Lewis prematurely hailed Gomez's confirmation prior to the final vote. She is "publicly committed to supporting FCC authority over broadband to preserve an open internet and close the digital divide," Lewis said: "This is critically important as the long delay in filling the five-person commission has left many key broadband policy priorities unfinished."

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., pressed the FCC Monday to reconsider its decision to hold off on awarding T-Mobile more than 7,000 spectrum licenses it bought last year in the commission’s 2.5 GHz auction while its sales authority remains lapsed. “The FCC appears to be holding onto T-Mobile’s $304 million payment while providing nothing in return,” the GOP leaders said in a letter to Jessica Rosenworcel we obtained first ahead of its release. “If it had been a private company that accepted payment and then refused delivery of goods or services, a customer would be well within its rights to sue for breach of contract. This circumstance is similar, but it is perhaps even more egregiously unfair given the power dynamics: a government regulator is withholding a legitimately obtained good from a regulated entity.”

A Senate GOP aide told us Cruz and Thune didn’t send the letter at T-Mobile’s behest. T-Mobile has repeatedly asked the FCC to grant the 2.5 GHz licenses amid what’s become a multimonth fight on Capitol Hill over reinstating the FCC’s auction mandate while talks on a broader spectrum deal have continued. A range of other communications policy stakeholders are also backing T-Mobile, including the Digital Progress Institute, Free State Foundation and Public Knowledge.

The FCC “should do what it can to ensure that this valuable mid-band spectrum is put to use as quickly as possible,” but if the commission does “not act promptly to issue these licenses, we request a full accounting for your failure to do so,” Cruz and Thune said. They in part want the FCC to provide by Aug. 28 a detailed “legal reasoning for not granting temporary licenses under every source of special temporary authority” available under the Communications Act apart from the expired auction mandate under Section 309(j). The FCC argued as recently as July it couldn’t grant STAs for the 2.5 GHz licenses because of the Section 309(j) lapse, while T-Mobile argues the commission must grant them under Communications Act sections 307 and 309(a) if the body finds such an action to be in the public interest.

“While you claim to be unsure of the FCC’s authority to grant these licenses due to the lapse of FCC spectrum auction authority, legal experts have held that the FCC retains power to grant licenses irrespective of whether it has authority to auction spectrum,” Cruz and Thune told Rosenworcel. “However, this authority did not necessarily displace the FCC’s preexisting power to issue licenses after mutual exclusivity concerns had been resolved. Such a reading of the law is supported by the Commission’s own practices: following review of an auction winner’s ‘long-form application’ … the Commission has historically granted licenses pursuant to its authority to grant licenses under section 309(a) rather than its authority to conduct spectrum auctions under 309(j).”

T-Mobile “has already won its bids in the 2.5 GHz auction, paid for the licenses it won, and submitted its long form application,” Cruz and Thune said. “There appears to be no reason why the FCC should not be able to similarly use its 309(a) authority to issue the licenses here.” Even if the FCC “harbors doubt about its authority to grant the pending licenses until its authority under Section 309(j) is restored, there should be no question that the FCC can provide access to 2.5 GHz spectrum” via STAs, the GOP senators said: “The FCC’s ability to issue temporary authorizations is independent of and predates its authority to act under section 309(j). Moreover, the Commission has routinely granted special temporary authority for other bands after auction authority expired.”

“By withholding these licenses, the Commission is forcing the spectrum to unnecessarily lie fallow and depriving communities across the country, particularly in rural areas, of better mobile service,” Cruz and Thune said. “According to T-Mobile, putting the 2.5 GHz spectrum to use would bring high-speed broadband to over 900,000 unserved locations.” That ‘will in turn pay dividends for economic growth: at least one study shows that allowing T-Mobile to use the spectrum it won via auction would generate tens of billions of dollars in economic activity,” the GOP senators said.

The FCC will tackle three items, starting with the use of AI in spectrum management, at its Aug. 3 meeting, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday. Drafts of the three items are expected later in the day. Rosenworcel also mentioned the notice of inquiry at an FCC workshop Thursday morning.

“Historically, the Commission’s spectrum management policies have relied on outside parties to measure how spectrum is actually being used. Considering this third-party information is made available infrequently and is generally nonpublic, meaning it’s hard to verify, our spectrum management practices could benefit from conducting our own studies of spectrum usage,” Rosenworcel said: “We will vote to launch an inquiry to explore how the Commission might leverage new AI tools and other cutting-edge technologies and data sources to better understand the actual usage of non-federal spectrum bands.”

Also on the agenda is an item that would implement an up to $75 monthly internet subsidy through the affordable connectivity program for qualifying high-cost areas. More than 19 million households are enrolled in the program to date, Rosenworcel noted, and Congress "recognized that building out to rural areas requires support for both network deployments and for affordability" when it directed the commission to establish the enhanced benefit through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Commissioners will also vote on an NPRM seeking comment on changing the way maximum power for digital FM stations is determined and the process for allowing digital transmissions at different power levels on the upper and lower digital sidebands “The goal is to improve digital FM signal quality and coverage while minimizing harmful interference,” said the chairwoman’s post Thursday. The item appears to stem from petitions filed by NAB and Xperi which were widely supported by broadcasters when they were put out for comment. NAB and Xperi have said the proposed changes would improve digital FM coverage and digital FM signal penetration of buildings while minimizing interference.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., voiced greater optimism Tuesday night about the prospects the committee will be able to advance a trio of FCC nominees Wednesday, including new pick Anna Gomez and incumbent Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. The pair's confirmation would bring the FCC to a 3-2 Democratic majority more than two years into Jessica Rosenworcel's chairmanship. The Senate Commerce executive session will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.

"My sense is everybody's ready to roll," Cantwell told us: Some Senate Commerce members "want to do roll-call votes" on some of" the nominees, "so we'll see" how those play out. Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune of South Dakota is predicting some fellow panel Republicans will support Gomez and Starks, with some lobbyists tipping between two and five GOP yes votes.

Renominated GOP FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and commission inspector general nominee Fara Damelin are also expected to clear Senate Commerce Wednesday. Cantwell said she's "not ready to relay yet where I am" on Carr, however, given concerns she voiced in followup questions after a June confirmation hearing about his past statements to conservative media outlets and on social media on a range of issues.

Former Senate Commerce ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us Tuesday night a meeting earlier that day with Gomez and Starks "went fine," but he "didn't commit to" vote for either Democrat during the panel's Wednesday meeting.

The Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights led a letter with the Communications Workers of America and 10 other groups endorsing Gomez and Starks. “Without confirmation of both of these highly qualified nominees this year, the FCC will be left with only three commissioners,” the groups wrote Cantwell and Cruz Tuesday. “The need for swift action on both these nominations together is therefore critical for advancement of important agency work.” After so long “without a working majority, the FCC has a significant workload to tackle,” the groups said. New America’s Open Technology Institute also endorsed the Democratic nominees, with Senior Director Lilian Coral saying “the important work of the FCC has been slowed or jeopardized by the unprecedented 2+ year partisan delay in fully staffing the FCC, and the time to end the stalemate is now.”

The Commerce Department’s Office of Inspector General plans to publish a “management alert” about NTIA’s “reliance on tribes’ self-certifications of their broadband status to determine their eligibility for grants under the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program,” Assistant IG-Audit and Evaluation Arthur Scott said in a Monday memo to NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson we obtained Tuesday night. OIG plans to release the alert Wednesday, officials said. TBCP is one of several federal broadband programs congressional Republicans have focused on since December as part of ramped-up scrutiny of the government’s connectivity spending.

The OIG alert follows its audit of NTIA’s TBCP implementation that found the agency “did not consistently identify possible duplicated funding for 88 TBCP broadband infrastructure awards, totaling $1.6 billion,” Scott told Davidson. “NTIA instead allowed tribes to self-certify that they were not currently served by a broadband provider and did not have an enforceable commitment from a provider to build out broadband service on their lands. As a result, some TBCP grant recipients may have received funding they were not eligible for, and NTIA may have reduced the amount of available funding for TBCP applicants who need it.”

The accompanying alert proposes NTIA “independently validate past” TBCP “awards to confirm whether applicants’ proposed broadband service areas were unserved or whether funding of other federal programs was duplicated.” If “applicants do not meet the requirements for awarded grants, NTIA should recover the funds and flag the applications as ineligible,” OIG said. The office also recommends NTIA “develop and implement formal policy and procedures for independently validating self-certifications to determine eligibility for future broadband grant program awards.”

OIG plans “to issue a report” on the audit “in early 2024 and will continue to monitor NTIA’s progress in implementing our proposed actions for change.” OIG “discussed our plans to issue” the alert with NTIA May 25 and “are not requesting a formal response” from the agency because the office hasn’t issued formal recommendations, Scott said. NTIA didn’t immediately comment.

Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., called for the Commerce Committee to hold an “oversight hearing to hold NTIA accountable” in response to OIG’s concerns. The findings “reveal that once again NTIA has not adopted measures to ensure broadband funding is going to truly unserved areas, which could lead to wasteful spending to the tune of more than $1 billion,” he said in a statement to us. “This is particularly concerning given that NTIA is also responsible for managing” the $42.5 billion broadband, equity, access and deployment program. Thune urged Davidson in January to pause TBCP outlays until NTIA addresses GAO’s call for the agency to institute better performance goals and measures for the program that could more effectively prevent fraud.

A public interest group and a former Fox executive are calling on the FCC to block the license renewal of a Fox-owned TV station over the network’s misinformation about the 2020 election. The Media and Democracy Project’s petition to deny the renewal of WTFX-TV Philadelphia includes a declaration from former Fox executive and longtime communications lobbyist Preston Padden with communications to him from Fox head Rupert Murdoch that MAD says show Murdoch knew that information FOX stations were broadcasting was false. “It was obvious to me that Mr. Murdoch knew that Trump had lost the election and there was no basis for claiming election fraud,” said Padden’s declaration.

The court decision in voting machine company Dominion’s lawsuit against Fox held the company liable for false broadcasts, which means Fox doesn’t meet the character qualifications to be an FCC licensee, said a MAD news release. “The intentional distortion of news, authorized at the highest levels of FOX's corporate structure, and fabricated by management and on-air personalities, represents a severe breach of the FCC's policy on licensee character qualifications.” “Petitioners seek an evidentiary hearing that they are confident will result in findings of fact warranting Commission denial of FOX’s renewal application, revocation of its broadcast licenses, and a determination that FOX lacks the character qualifications required of licensees,” said the filing.

The FCC has historically been reluctant to involve itself in matters of broadcast content, but a 2007 radio contest that ended with the death of a participant caused the agency to order an evidentiary hearing, and the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol resulted in multiple deaths and acts of violence, said Smithwick and Belendiuk attorney Arthur Belendiuk, who represents MAD. WTFX is one of 29 Fox-owned stations. “Owning a broadcast station is more than a business -- it is a public trust. Never before has the Commission been confronted with so much evidence attached to a petition that clearly shows that an FCC broadcast licensee undermined that trust,” said MAD. Fox and Padden didn’t immediately comment.

A California state court delayed enforcement of California Privacy Right Act (CPRA) regulations Friday. The CPRA had required the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) to start enforcing regulations implementing the sequel to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) by Saturday.

The California Superior Court in Sacramento partly granted the stay request by the California Chamber of Commerce after a hearing Friday. The final decision closely tracked with a tentative ruling released Thursday in case 34-2023-80004106-CU-WM-GDS. The parties didn't comment right away.

The court paused “the Agency’s enforcement of any Agency regulation implemented pursuant to Subdivision (d) for 12 months after that individual regulation is implemented.” That means the CPPA may start enforcing rules it finalized March 29, 2023, on that date in 2024, said the court: The agency can start enforcing any rules to come 12 months after they’re finalized. CCPA rules will remain enforceable by the California attorney general.

The CPRA contemplated that final rules would be ready by July 1, 2022, and enforcement would begin July 1, 2023. Including the one-year-apart dates in CPRA "indicates the voters intended there to be a gap between the passing of final regulations and enforcement of those regulations,” the decision said. “The Court is not persuaded by the Agency’s argument that it may ignore one date while enforcing the other.”

The White House on Monday will reveal state allocations for the $42.5 billion broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, said New Jersey Office of Broadband Connectivity Director Valarry Bullard on an NTIA videoconference Thursday.

State broadband officers were invited to a Monday event to find out grant amounts, said Bullard at the New Jersey virtual outreach meeting: "All of these state broadband offices will get together and [President Joe] Biden will say, 'You get a grant' and 'You get a grant.'" NTIA Federal Program Officer Brynn Deprey said to expect a news release.

NTIA had earlier said it would announce BEAD allocations by June 30. NTIA will use the FCC map to determine how much money states receive in addition to the $100 million each they’re guaranteed under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The White House plans to announce on Monday President Joe Biden’s intent to nominate former NTIA acting Administrator Anna Gomez to the vacant fifth FCC seat and renominate sitting Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, congressional and other communications policy lobbyists told us Sunday night and Monday. The White House didn’t immediately comment.

Top Republican leaders on the House and Senate Commerce committees want the FCC's Office of Inspector General to review the commission's management of broadband money it received for the affordable connectivity program during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying in a letter to acting IG Sharon Diskin we obtained ahead of its Monday release that "it's important to understand" ACP's "record to date" as they decide whether to back extending its life. They seek answers by June 1. The request came ahead of a Wednesday House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee hearing that will be the panel's first specific foray into what’s expected to be a more critical look at recent broadband spending now that Republicans have the chamber majority.

House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and other GOP leaders have "serious concerns" about "the effectiveness of temporary" initiatives like ACP. "Despite the good intentions" of ACP and the predecessor emergency broadband benefit program, "questions have been raised regarding their effectiveness and FCC oversight over how program dollars have been spent," the lawmakers said. Also on the letter: Senate Commerce ranking member Ted Cruz of Texas, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta of Ohio and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune of South Dakota. "While much focus has been paid to reports of fraud ... it is equally if not more important to evaluate what quantifiable benefits have been delivered by the subsidies."

Rodgers and the other GOP leaders asked OIG to "determine to what extent the programs have accomplished the FCC’s stated goal of 'reduc[ing] the digital divide for low-income consumers' and ascertain the data behind" FCC Chairwoman Jessica "Rosenworcel’s statement that 'millions of families who previously could not get online or struggled to pay for this modern-day necessity are now connected' due to ACP." There "are strong indications that the programs have not been effective in increasing broadband adoption," the lawmakers said. They in part cited a 2022 Phoenix Center study that found "only five to 10 percent of subsidized participants were not previously online" and FCC surveys of ACP participants that "only 16 percent of respondents had no internet access prior to subscribing with" ACP. "This data suggests that the vast majority of tax dollars have gone to those who already subscribed to broadband plans prior to the subsidy and that the programs have been poorly targeted to the stated goal of reducing the digital divide," the Republicans said. "This fact has been confirmed by telecom companies participating in the programs, too."

"Unsurprisingly, it does not appear that the FCC has studied whether" ACP "is successfully targeting non-adopters," the GOP leaders said. "For years, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and other independent evaluators have criticized the FCC’s failure to study the Lifeline program" and the commission "seemingly" didn't learn from its "mistakes in designing the ACP; a 2023 GAO report criticized the FCC’s "'lack of specific targets and clarity' in defining performance goals and measuring the program’s progress." To "the extent that the FCC has attempted to measure success, it has focused predominantly on program participation rates," the lawmakers said: "But demonstrating that the program is popular does not prove its benefits." They seek detailed data on whether the FCC adequately targeted ACP "to households currently without broadband" and whether it "developed specific goals and metrics to track the ACP’s effectiveness and progress over time." The Republicans also want to know if the FCC "adequately communicated with participating providers to prepare for potential lapses in ACP funding."

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is again prodding Congress to allocate an additional $3.08 billion to fully fund the FCC's Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, writing Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Wednesday that the commission “will need to plan to proceed” with prorating reimbursements to providers if lawmakers don’t bridge the current shortfall by July 15. Rosenworcel’s renewed push comes as congressional leaders are still negotiating a spectrum legislative package that could direct some auction proceeds to increase rip and replace funding.

The FCC has some statutory tools to ease the effect of prorating reimbursements, including the ability to grant “a six-month extension” of a law requirement that funding recipients complete removal and replacement within one year of receiving initial money “if the agency determines that the supply of needed equipment and services is inadequate to accomplish” the program’s goals, Rosenworcel said in a letter to Cantwell we obtained Thursday morning ahead of its expected publication. The commission “also has authority” to “grant individual extensions to qualified recipients that fail to meet” the rip and replace deadline “due to no fault of such recipient.”

“Many” participants report they will face difficulties completing the removal and replacement of “vulnerable equipment in their networks as a result of the lack of sufficient funding,” Rosenworcel said. “Some recipients may not begin actually removing this equipment until additional funding is appropriated.” The FCC has already “approved distributions of reimbursement funds” for 38 of the 52 participants that submitted claims as of April 24, she said: Those 38 entities now face deadlines to remove all Huawei and ZTE communications equipment and services ranging from Sept. 29, 2023 to April 21, 2024. All 126 approved applicants must submit at least one claim by July 15.

Competitive Carriers Association President Tim Donovan praised Rosenworcel’s letter Thursday ahead of its publication. It highlights “the urgency and difficulties faced by Program participants,” he said: “Many CCA members participating in the Program are the only providers in the rural areas they serve, and cannot successfully ‘rip and replace’ untrusted equipment and continue to provide service for their subscribers, as well as roaming customers from other carriers, with less than 40% of their approved costs funded. Congress created the program as a national security mandate, and Congress can ensure its success by acting to fully fund” it.

Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune of South Dakota, Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz of Texas and nine other panel Republicans pressed NTIA Thursday to “revise or issue a new” notice of funding opportunity for the $42.5 billion broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program “to address” a range of GOP concerns. They want the agency to respond by May 4. NTIA’s existing BEAD NOFO previously drew Senate Commerce Republicans’ ire during a June hearing.

“To fulfill Congress’ goal of providing broadband connectivity to unserved Americans, NTIA must address concerns” about the NOFO, Thune and other Republicans said in a letter to agency Administrator Alan Davidson we obtained ahead of its Thursday morning release. “As numerous states and stakeholders have articulated, current BEAD rules divert resources away from bringing broadband service to rural America and are inconsistent with NTIA’s statutory authority in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.” NTIA’s “failure to resolve these concerns will prolong the digital divide and put billions of scarce taxpayer dollars at risk,” the Republicans said.

The GOP senators want NTIA to “make it clear that states do not have the authority to regulate rates, and NTIA should refrain from introducing any new rules relating to rate regulation or wholesale access requirements that are inconsistent with its direction from Congress.” They cited current NOFO language that “requires states to ‘ensure that high-quality broadband services are available to all middle-class families in the BEAD-funded network’s service area at reasonable prices.’” The notice also includes “an additional form of rate regulation by giving preference to providers that agree to interconnect with their competitors at wholesale rates,” the lawmakers said.

Thune and other Republicans seek removal of NOFO language that “gives favorable treatment to government-owned networks over private investment,” including a requirement that states “include ‘an explanation for awards to traditional broadband providers when one or more non-traditional providers submitted competing proposals.’” They’re concerned the notice “generally prohibits non-fiber projects from receiving BEAD funding” even though IIJA “permitted all technologies, including wireless service, to be eligible for funding as long as they meet” the law’s “network requirements. Further, under the NOFO’s rules, a state that does not use fiber must submit an overly complex and burdensome waiver request, inconsistent with Congress’ intent.”

The Republicans urged NTIA to “work alongside stakeholders to develop a consistent” process for waiving a requirement for purchasing “broadband products and supplies from American workers and businesses” for “certain components of a broadband network” if an entity meets “a number of strict thresholds.” They want NTIA to excise NOFO provisions that went “far beyond” IIJA’s directive to “give priority to eligible broadband providers that have a ‘demonstrated record of and plans to be in compliance with Federal labor and employment laws,’” the senators said: They cited notice language requiring “subgrantees to prioritize certain segments of the workforce, such as ‘individuals with past criminal records’ and ‘justice-impacted [...] participants,’ when building out broadband networks.” They’re also concerned the NOFO “makes several references to and includes a policy that was not included in the IIJA relating to climate change.”

NTIA didn’t immediately comment.

Newsmax is returning to the DirecTV lineup this week, the cable news network said Wednesday. It didn't divulge terms of what it said was a multiyear distribution deal. Newsmax's going dark on DirecTV in January was met by considerable criticism from House GOP members and the FCC saw dozens of complaints by the public in the days afterward. “Newsmax recognizes and appreciates that DIRECTV clearly supports diverse voices, including conservative ones,” Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said in a statement.

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., pressed the FCC in a letter we obtained ahead of its planned sending Thursday morning for a detailed accounting of its distribution of money to four broadband programs enacted via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and COVID-19 aid measures. Thune in December began his own review of all federal broadband programs’ oversight of funding disbursals. Cruz has joined Thune in raising concerns about some of these programs since taking over as lead Commerce Republican in January.

Cruz and Thune sought FCC details by March 29 about its disbursals and planned outlays for the affordable connectivity program, its predecessor emergency broadband benefit program, emergency connectivity fund and COVID-19 telehealth program. “Ensuring these funds are well spent is essential to improving broadband connectivity, and American families deserve to know that their taxes are going to programs free of waste, fraud, and abuse,” the GOP leaders wrote FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The FCC didn’t immediately comment.

“Unfortunately, as with other pandemic-era legislation, it appears that waste, fraud, and abuse may be widespread in these programs,” Cruz and Thune said. They cited past FCC Office of Inspector General reports about fraud in the EBB and ACP programs and a January GAO report that found problems with the commission’s goals and measures for ACP efficacy. “Although the FCC and its OIG have done some good work to mitigate some of the worst instances of waste, fraud, and abuse of these programs, much more needs to be done to ensure there is a full and accurate accounting of the billions of tax dollars appropriated to these programs,” the Republicans said.

The FCC’s administrative law judge denied the Standard/Tegna broadcasters’ motion to certify the Standard/Tegna deal to the full commission, said an order Thursday. The broadcasters raised only one “unsettled question of law” that could be certified, on the constitutionality of ALJs, the order said. “This complex constitutional issue is the subject of a pending petition for certiorari before the United States Supreme Court and accordingly will not be analyzed here,” wrote ALJ Jane Halprin. The certification process is “an exceedingly rare avenue of redress” and the broadcasters faced “a substantial burden in showing that an entire case should be certified without hearing.” With the motion denied, the hearing proceeding is expected to continue, though the broadcasters could look for assistance from the courts, attorneys told us. The deal’s final extension date is May 22. Standard General didn't immediately comment.

The FCC’s spectrum auction authority is all but certain to expire late Thursday night, with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., telling reporters he expects talks between him and Hill leaders to continue into next week over dueling proposals to extend the mandate. The FCC declined comment on what plans it has for conducting spectrum operations if its authority lapses Thursday night.

Rounds said negotiations Thursday boiled down to a feeling both sides were in the same situation “as last night,” when Rounds objected to a bid to pass by unanimous consent a House-passed bill to renew the FCC’s authority through May 19 (HR-1108), and Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., objected to Rounds’ bid to similarly enact his proposed reauthorization through Sept. 30 (S-650). Negotiators decided “let’s just wait until next week, and we’ll address it then,” Rounds said.

It will “be up to” lawmakers backing HR-1108 whether the FCC’s pending authority lapse will have a major impact on the commission’s spectrum operations, Rounds said: “From my perspective I’d love to have it put back in and ready to go right now.” His concern remains the “safety and national defense issues” for efforts to modify the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s existing 3.1-3.45 GHz framework. He argues extending the FCC’s remit through Sept. 30 will give the department time to complete an ongoing analysis on relocating its systems off the frequency so there’s data to guide legislative decisions.

Rounds “is the one holding this all up” because there was an existing “four corners” agreement among the leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees to pursue HR-1108’s May 19 reauthorization, Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us before Rounds said negotiations were at a standstill. “I don’t know why he doesn’t want the four corners and the White House to keep talking.” There’s “always time” for a deal to come together before midnight, but “I don’t know” that’s possible at this point.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told us he plans a Senate floor showdown tonight to pass by unanimous consent his bill to lengthen a new extension of the FCC's spectrum auction authority to last through Sept. 30 (S-650). That's instead of accepting a House-passed plan to renew it until May 19 (HR-1108). Rounds' push may lead to the FCC's mandate expiring altogether Thursday, given he firmly opposes passing HR-1108 by UC and Hill leaders don't back his proposal, lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews. The Senate can pass legislation by UC only if no senator objects.

"I don't want to see" the FCC's authority "lapse if at all possible," Rounds said. "We'll see what happens." He believes extending the mandate to Sept. 30 instead of May 19 would set up a situation where lawmakers won't have to grapple with what's likely to be another stopgap come HR-1108's proposed deadline. He also said it would allow DOD to complete an Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act-mandated DOD analysis on relocating its systems off the 3.1-3.45 GHz band.

FCC nominee Gigi Sohn confirmed Tuesday she asked the White House to withdraw her from Senate consideration following an often fractious year-plus confirmation process that involved President Joe Biden naming her three times. Sohn's request for Biden to withdraw her nomination came "last night," before Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia became the first Democrat to formally oppose her confirmation.

"After discussions with my family and careful consideration, I made the decision to ask" Biden to "withdraw my nomination," Sohn said in a statement. "When I accepted his nomination over sixteen months ago, I could not have imagined that legions of cable and media industry lobbyists, their bought-and-paid-for surrogates, and dark money political groups with bottomless pockets would distort my over 30-year history as a consumer advocate into an absurd caricature of blatant lies. The unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks on my character and my career as an advocate for the public interest have taken an enormous toll on me and my family."

"The American people are the real losers here. The FCC deadlock, now over two years long, will remain so for a long time," Sohn said. "As someone who has advocated for my entire career for affordable, accessible broadband for every American, it is ironic that the 2-2 FCC will remain sidelined at the most consequential opportunity for broadband in our lifetimes. This means that your broadband will be more expensive for lack of competition, minority and underrepresented voices will be marginalized, and your private information will continue to be used and sold at the whim of your broadband provider."

It's "a sad day for our country and our democracy when dominant industries, with assistance from unlimited dark money, get to choose their regulators," Sohn said. "And with the help of their friends in the Senate, the powerful cable and media companies have done just that." She said she hopes Biden "swiftly nominates an individual who puts the American people first over all other interests. The country deserves nothing less." The White House didn't immediately comment.

The FCC Media Bureau designated the $8.6 billion proposed Standard General/Tegna deal for a hearing, said a release Friday. “The Hearing Designation Order focuses specifically on material concerns in the record related to how the proposed transaction could artificially raise prices for consumers and result in job losses,” said the release. Designating a deal for hearing is widely perceived as a death knell for the transaction because hearing proceedings take months or years and have uncertain outcomes. The FCC’s HDO for Sinclair’s proposed buy of Tribune in 2018 led to that deal’s dissolution shortly after. “As part of the FCC’s mission, we are responsible for determining whether grant of the applications constituting this transaction serves the public interest,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in the release. “That’s why we’re asking for closer review to ensure that this transaction does not anti-competitively raise prices or put jobs in local newsrooms at risk,” she said. Standard didn't comment, but the companies said this week they expected the deal to close within two months.

FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson announced Tuesday that she will “soon resign,” citing Chair Lina Khan’s “disregard for the rule of law and due process.” Wilson said she has “failed repeatedly to persuade Ms. Khan and her enablers [senior FTC staff] to do the right thing, and I refuse to give their endeavor any further hint of legitimacy by remaining.” Commissioner Noah Phillips announced his resignation from the commission in August and finished his tenure early in October.

Wilson is the only remaining Republican on the commission, and Phillips’ successor hasn’t been named. Wilson said she and her staff since 2021 have “spent countless hours seeking to uncover [Khan’s] abuses of government power. That task has become increasingly difficult as she has consolidated power within the Office of the Chairman, breaking decades of bipartisan precedent and undermining the commission structure that Congress wrote into law.”

Khan issued a joint statement with Commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya: "While we often disagreed with Commissioner Wilson, we respect her devotion to her beliefs and are grateful for her public service," they said. "We wish her well in her next endeavor." Three commissioners constitute a quorum, meaning the agency can still take official votes, despite note having a Republican member. The White House announced Slaughter's renomination Monday. Wilson in a series of tweets on Feb. 2 cited Khan’s decision not to recuse herself as judge from the agency’s in-house challenge of Meta’s purchase of Within Unlimited as an example of agency leadership flouting the rule of law and due process.

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold its third confirmation hearing for FCC nominee Gigi Sohn Feb. 14, a panel aide told us Tuesday night. President Joe Biden re-selected Sohn in January following stalled confirmation processes in 2021 and 2022.

President Joe Biden called during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night for Congress to “pass bipartisan legislation to stop Big Tech from collecting personal data on kids and teenagers online, ban targeted advertising to children, and impose stricter limits on the personal data these companies collect on all of us.” The government “must finally hold social media companies accountable for the experiment they are running on our children for profit,” Biden said. He called for similar legislation last month amid hopes for more collaboration on privacy legislation.

Biden urged lawmakers to “pass bipartisan legislation to strengthen antitrust enforcement and prevent big online platforms from giving their own products an unfair advantage.” He called for Congress to pass a Junk Fee Prevention Act that will “make cable internet and cellphone companies stop charging you up to $200 or more when you decide to switch to another provider. We’ll cap service fees on tickets to concerts and sporting events and make companies disclose all fees upfront.”

Biden earlier touted Congress’ success in enacting the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included $65 billion for connectivity, and the Chips and Science Act. “America used to make nearly 40% of the world’s chips,” but “in the last few decades, we lost our edge and we’re down to producing only 10%,” he said. “We all saw what happened during the pandemic when chip factories overseas shut down.” Car “prices went up,” as “did everything from refrigerators to cellphones,” Biden said: “We can never let that happen again.”

The FCC released an NPRM Wednesday seeking comment on rules allowing the use of the 5030-5091 MHz band by drones, which commissioners approved Dec. 23. Comments will be due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, replies 60 days after publication.

“It is past time that we assess the availability of wireless communications resources for the increasingly important remote-piloted aircraft activity we rely on today,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

President Joe Biden intends to nominate Gigi Sohn for a third time to a vacant FCC seat, as expected, a senior White House official confirmed to us Tuesday. The Senate formally adjourned sine die just before noon EST Tuesday, formally sending Sohn’s stalled 2022 nomination to the commission back to the White House. Biden first nominated Sohn in October 2021, kicking off more than a year of partisan fighting about her confirmation that saw a handful of Democrats raise misgivings about her amid unified GOP opposition. Sohn’s supporters hope her third try for the FCC will be easier given the Senate shifted to an outright Democratic majority Tuesday, but lawmakers and lobbyists told us there’s no guarantee the Commerce Committee will be able to swiftly move her to the floor.