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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.