Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawyer Eric Troutman has filed as an independent candidate for a U.S. House seat representing parts of Orange County, California, he announced on his TCPAWorld blog Saturday. Democratic Rep. Dave Min is the incumbent.

The U.S. Hispanic Business Council raised concerns Friday about Section 1564 of the Senate-passed FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (S-2296), which allows DOD and the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman to essentially veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands (see 2510090048). The Senate voted 77-20 earlier this month to pass S-2296 with the Section 1564 military spectrum veto language intact, despite opposition from Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas (see 2510070037). The House-passed FY26 NDAA (HR-3838) doesn’t include similar language.

Senate Communications Subcommittee member Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and four other congressional Republicans urged U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday to seek a DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility probe of then-Special Counsel Jack Smith's reported surveillance of the lawmakers during the Biden administration. The FBI is already investigating claims that the agency and Smith’s Arctic Frost team, which probed the Jan. 6 Capitol siege, analyzed records of communications by Blackburn and eight other GOP lawmakers from Jan. 4-7, 2021 (see 2510070045). Blackburn also spearheaded recent requests for AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon to explain why they turned over the Republicans’ communications records to the FBI and Smith.

Deborah Collier, vice president of policy and government affairs for Citizens Against Government Waste, urged House lawmakers involved in reaching a conference compromise on the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-3838) to strongly oppose language in the Senate's alternative bill (S-2296) that gives Pentagon leaders authority to essentially veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands (see 2510090048). HR-3838 doesn’t include similar language. The Senate voted 77-20 earlier this month to pass S-2296 with the Section 1564 military spectrum veto language intact, despite opposition from Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas (see 2510070037).

The Senate Commerce Committee said Tuesday night that it has rescheduled for Oct. 21 a postponed meeting that will include a vote on the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act (S-2666). The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell. S-2666, which Senate Commerce originally intended to vote on last week (see 2510080053), would direct the FCC to create a public-private task force to recommend new methods “to combat unlawful robocalls made into” the U.S. from outside the country. The task force would also examine whether creating a robocall-focused office within DOJ would improve the department’s ability to conduct enforcement against unlawful robocalls.

The government shutdown that's affecting most FCC operations (see 2510010065) appeared set to continue into a 15th day after the Senate again failed Wednesday afternoon to reach the 60-vote threshold to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed on the Republicans’ House-passed continuing resolution (HR-5371), which would reopen the FCC and other federal agencies through Nov. 21. The upper chamber voted 51-44, its ninth unsuccessful attempt to advance the measure. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., would tee up another vote on HR-5371 for Thursday. He hasn’t agreed to further votes on Democrats’ CR counteroffer (S-2882), which would restore federal appropriations through Oct. 31 and bring back CPB’s rescinded $535 million funding for FY 2026. The Senate has repeatedly rejected that measure along party lines.

The Senate voted 77-20 Thursday night to pass its version of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (S-2296), which retains language to authorize the DOD and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman to essentially veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands, as expected (see 2510090048). Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who tried to persuade chamber leaders to remove that language in Section 1564 (see 2510070037), was among three senators who didn’t vote on S-2296 Thursday. The House-passed FY26 NDAA (HR-3838) doesn't include similar language.

The Senate Commerce Committee postponed a planned markup session Wednesday (see 2510020046) that would have included a vote on the Foreign Robocall Elimination Act (S-2666), a panel spokesperson said. The committee plans “shortly” to reschedule the meeting, which would have immediately preceded a hearing on Biden administration interactions with social media companies. Democrats used that hearing as a forum to again criticize FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for his mid-September threats against ABC and parent Disney before the network temporarily pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air (see 2510080049).

Senate Communications Subcommittee member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., praised the FBI on Monday night for investigating claims that during the Biden administration, the bureau and then-Special Counsel Jack Smith tracked her phone calls and those of eight other GOP lawmakers as part of a probe into the Jan. 6 Capitol siege. Fox News reported that in 2023 the FBI circulated a memo outlining the Jan. 6 team’s “analysis on limited” records of communications by Blackburn and the other Republicans, including current Senate Communications members Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. The Fox News report indicated that the FBI tracked the phone numbers that lawmakers called and the locations of the callers and recipients.

The government shutdown that has largely suspended FCC activity (see 2510010065) continued into Tuesday with no clear consensus in sight. The Senate failed again Monday to reach the 60-vote cloture threshold on dueling GOP and Democratic continuing resolutions to temporarily restore federal appropriations. It voted 52-42 on Republicans’ House-passed CR (HR-5371) to reopen the government through Nov. 21, with only three Democrats in support. The Senate also voted 45-50 on Democrats’ CR (S-2882), which would restore federal appropriations through Oct. 31 and bring back CPB’s rescinded $535 million funding for FY 2026.