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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.