In an FCC pilot begun Thursday morning, the agency will release the full text of draft items before commissioners vote on them, when they're slated for consideration at members' monthly public meetings. Chairman Ajit Pai did just that, releasing a draft NPRM on broadcasters' envisioned move to next-generation ATSC 3.0 TV, plus an order on AM revitalization, of which he has been a major proponent.

​President Donald Trump’s immigration executive order Friday blocking citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days awakened an outcry in the tech industry over the weekend. The order "hurts our nation -- both morally and economically -- and runs counter to our country's long-standing values,” CTA President Gary Shapiro said in a Sunday statement. CTA understands the president’s “superseding role” in protecting the U.S. from terrorism, Shapiro said. But "blocking access en masse of employees of U.S. companies who are lawful visa and green card holders based on religion or national origin raises constitutional issues.”

In one of Ajit Pai's first steps as chairman, the FCC removed from circulation some draft items, including at least two high-profile orders. Draft actions on updating broadband data services (BDS) rules and on making it easier for pay-TV customers to connect to subscription video services without an operator-provided set-top box were removed from consideration Friday afternoon. That's according to our review of the circulation list and an interview with an FCC spokesman Saturday.

The FCC TV incentive auction won't total more than about $10 billion, according to just-released agency figures. The reverse auction clearing cost for Stage 4 is $10.05 billion, said the FCC Public Reporting System. That's down from approximately $40 billion that previously would have been needed to close the auction in the past stage. Some we previously canvassed expected a major drop from that $40 billion figure, but not all the way to $10 billion.

Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., will lead Democrats on the House Communications Subcommittee this Congress, replacing longtime ranking member Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. Commerce Committee Democrats approved Doyle’s position by voice vote Thursday during a closed-door meeting in the Rayburn House Office Building that lasted about 50 minutes. Doyle told us he wants to prevent the incoming Republican FCC from rolling back regulations from recent years. He confirmed he received the position in a unanimous voice vote.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., will now chair the House Communications Subcommittee, according to Capitol Hill and industry sources tracking the process. She’s a key net neutrality opponent and ally to President-elect Donald Trump, serving as an executive vice chairwoman on his transition team. She was expected to have the edge in the contest for the position due to her influence within the House GOP caucus, although her rhetoric has concerned some public interest advocates.

President Barack Obama sent the renomination of Jessica Rosenworcel to the Senate, for its new session that began Tuesday. Her last day as an FCC member was also Tuesday. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., whose committee would need to OK Rosenworcel before the full Senate could vote on her reappointment, had signaled her imminent return to the agency was unlikely.

Chairman Tom Wheeler is leaving the FCC on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, he confirmed Thursday morning before the commissioners' meeting. That would leave the commission with one Democratic member, Mignon Clyburn, who earlier this week told us that she will stay during her term, and two Republicans, Mike O'Rielly and Ajit Pai. That is assuming that Jessica Rosenworcel is not reconfirmed; she is not expected to be.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., beat out opponents and will chair the House Commerce Committee next Congress. The current head of the Communications Subcommittee, though junior in seniority in the leadership derby to succeed outgoing full committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., won his quest to get the nod from a group of GOP leaders over the more-senior Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill.

A federal court sided with AT&T in overturning an FCC VoIP symmetry ruling that had allowed local competitors to collect higher switching charges for routing over-the-top long-distance calls to local phone customers. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously reversed the commission's February 2015 ruling that CLECs in partnership with over-the-top VoIP providers were providing the "functional equivalent" of end-office switching and thus could collect associated access charges, instead of the lower charges associated with tandem switching.