The FCC will hold its scheduled commissioners’ meeting Jan. 30 but without the planned agenda items, the agency said in a release Wednesday. “Due to the current partial lapse in appropriations, the items previously set forth in the January 3, 2019 Tentative Agenda will not be considered at the meeting,” the release said. If the shutdown continues through Tuesday, the meeting will be held via conference call, the release said. If the shutdown ends and the FCC “resumes normal operations” before Tuesday, the meeting will be held in the Commission Meeting Room, consisting of “announcements only” rather than the agenda items, the agency said.
As the FCC's closure drags on, the agency has reversed course and is reopening its equipment authorization system. That potentially allows some new RF equipment to gain approval. A Jan. 2 public notice on the lapse in funding said the EAS wouldn't be available, the FCC noted Friday.
That the FCC lacks funding wasn't sufficient cause for the court overseeing challenges to the agency's rollback of common-carrier net neutrality rules to delay oral argument. "These cases remained scheduled for oral argument on February 1, 2019," said a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit order filed Thursday.
Due to the ongoing FCC closure during the partial government shutdown, the agency Tuesday requested that the court hearing appeals to its common-carrier net neutrality rollback delay Feb. 1's oral argument. The agency's request noted petitioners oppose the motion. The case is Mozilla v. FCC, No. 18-1051.
The Senate confirmed Democratic FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks and Commissioner Brendan Carr to a second full term Wednesday night via unanimous consent. The chamber also confirmed Kelvin Droegemeier as White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director. A breakthrough on a string of confirmations followed hours of negotiations Wednesday night between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a Senate source said.
The FCC electronic comment filing system, electronic document management system, Daily Digest, universal licensing system and network outage reporting system will remain up during the partial government and agency shutdown, said a public notice Wednesday. Shot clocks on deals will be paused, though some incentive auction activities will continue, the PN said. Comment deadlines also will be paused.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, is lifting his hold on Senate confirmation of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, an aide told us Thursday. The end of Sullivan's hold, in combination with the end of a separate hold on Carr by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., could clear the way for the Senate to approve Carr and Democratic FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks in an end-of-the-year package that may come as soon as Thursday afternoon. Senate leaders have been working since June to advance the nominees as a pair.
Outgoing Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., has decided to seek the chairmanship of the Communications Subcommittee, a Senate GOP aide told us Thursday. Thune, who was elected Wednesday as the chamber's majority whip, had been debating whether to seek the gavel of Senate Communications or Senate Surface Transportation.
At least four leaders of telecom and tech-focused congressional committees and subcommittees lost in Tuesday’s elections, which resulted in split control of Capitol Hill. Democrats had a net gain of at least 26 seats in the House and had won at least 220 seats. Republicans expanded their Senate majority, seeing a net gain of at least two seats. Three other seats remained undecided Wednesday morning, but the GOP will have at least 51 seats. Results are according to at least two major media outlets for each race.
President Donald Trump signed a memo Thursday directing Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to work with others in the administration and with industry to develop a comprehensive national spectrum policy. Trump also rescinded two Obama administration-era spectrum policy memos. The Trump memo requires all government agencies to report to the Commerce Department on current and anticipated spectrum requirements, officials said.