House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, declared their “strong opposition” Monday to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s “Learning Without Limits” proposal to allow E-rate program money to pay for Wi-Fi on school buses and for hot spots (see 2306260029). The GOP leaders urged Rosenworcel and the other three FCC commissioners to “get E-rate’s house in order before seeking new ways to spend consumers’ hard-earned money,” citing “deep-seated problems” with the program they believe is “full of waste, fraud, and abuse.” Cruz asked the GAO in May to investigate the FCC's administration of USF programs (see 2305110066). “Not only does” Rosenworcel’s proposal “violate federal law, but it would also duplicate programs across the federal government, directly contradicting FCC commissioners’ repeated commitments to streamlining federal broadband funding,” Cruz and Rodgers said in letters to the FCC chairwoman and Commissioners Brendan Carr, Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks. The lawmakers argued Communications Act Section 254 confines the FCC’s E-rate authority “to classrooms and libraries” and doesn’t extend to “off-campus use of eligible” services. “Expanding E-Rate to fund equipment like Wi-Fi hotspots would break with the statute and longstanding precedent” that USF “dollars, which fund the E-Rate program, may only be used to fund services and not consumer devices,” Cruz and Rodgers said. Attempting to transform E-rate “into a consumer broadband subsidy program” means the FCC “would duplicate other taxpayer-funded programs,” including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act-mandated $14.2 billion affordable connectivity program. E-rate “is not directly funded by Congress and lacks congressionally mandated safeguards,” the Republicans said: There’s also “no telling how much USF fees could increase to pay for” such a “dramatic” expansion of E-rate. They asked all four commissioners to respond by Aug. 14. The FCC didn’t comment.

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., reintroduced legislation Thursday that would ban law enforcement and intelligence agencies from buying consumer data from brokers without a warrant (see 2307240039). The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act is co-sponsored by Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc.; Patty Murray, D-Wash.; and Jon Tester, D-Mont. The House Judiciary Committee passed companion legislation earlier this month (see 2307190049).

House Judiciary Committee staff is trying to “intimidate and harass” FTC career staff, FTC Chair Lina Khan wrote in a Wednesday letter to Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. An FTC spokesperson drew attention to the letter in a series of tweets Thursday. The committee launched a campaign over the past month to intimidate and harass nearly 25 career staffers at the agency, despite the agency “actively and extensively” cooperating with Jordan’s staff on dozens of requests for documents, briefings and testimony, said Khan. She testified before the committee last week (see 2307130059). The FTC claims Jordan’s staff demanded to “interrogate” agency staff and obstruct the agency's enforcement efforts. Only once in the agency’s 109-year history has a career civil servant ever been deposed by a congressional committee, the agency noted: House Judiciary sought to depose 23 employees. The FTC is ready to respond to legitimate oversight queries, but “efforts to intimidate or harass career civil servants as a response to policy disagreements with senior leadership raises grave concerns,” said Khan. A Judiciary spokesperson said Thursday it's “clear” the FTC is “afraid of robust congressional oversight and answering for [Khan's] radical policies and toxic work environment." The oversight requests are “no different than what we ask of other agencies under our jurisdiction -- you have to wonder why Chair Khan is scared of transparency. And the FTC is so unprofessional that we first learned about her inaccurate and misleading letter from the media rather than the agency itself," the committee said.

The Senate had its third AI briefing Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced (see 2307170054). Attendees were briefed by Rick Stevens, associate laboratory director-Department of Energy's Argonne National Lab; National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan; and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Information Innovation Office Director Kathleen Fisher. Google, Microsoft, Anthropic and OpenAI announced the formation of an industry coalition Wednesday that will share technical evaluations and develop a “public library of solutions” to support industry best practices in AI. Microsoft is a major investor in OpenAI, and Google invested in Anthropic (see 2307250063). The Frontier Model Forum will focus on “ensuring safe and responsible development of frontier AI models,” Microsoft said.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency doesn’t “censor” free speech, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. He disputed findings from a July 4 decision from U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty for Western Louisiana in Monroe (see 2307120065). Doughty blocked federal officials from contacting social media companies about online content requests and identified CISA, DOJ and the FBI as agencies that collaborated with social media platforms to supposedly censor online speech. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., repeatedly pressed Mayorkas about how DHS defines disinformation. The government can’t be trusted to determine what’s false, said Johnson, calling Mayorkas the “most dishonest witness” to ever testify before the committee. CISA doesn’t make any effort to remove online content, said Mayorkas: The agency identifies the “tactics” that enemy states use to spread disinformation. Committee members largely focused on border issues during the DHS oversight hearing.

Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., want to know how DOJ is responding to reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). In a Tuesday letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, they cited the advancement of AI technology known as diffusion models, which people can use to create realistic images of children engaged in sexual activity. They noted the material could impede DOJ efforts to identify real CSAM and raises serious ethical and legal questions. They asked about legal hurdles for DOJ when the department attempts to prosecute against such activity. DOJ didn’t comment.

The House should cite Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for contempt of Congress for failing to produce documents about the company’s alleged collusion with the Biden administration to censor social media content, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Tuesday (see 2307170056). The committee scheduled a markup Thursday to vote on issuing a report to the House recommending citing Zuckerberg. The report stems from an investigation by the House Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee into the executive branch’s supposed coordination with social media companies. Meta failed to produce “nearly all of the relevant documents internal to the company” requested in a Feb. 15 subpoena, the report said. The company didn’t comment.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., refiled their Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act (CVTA) Tuesday in a bid to require audio descriptions as part of all video, including in broadcasts, cable, streaming and on social media (see 2303100043). The FCC adopted an order in June clarifying that interoperable videoconferencing services like Zoom and Microsoft Teams must comply with the commission’s accessibility rules under the 2010 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (see 2306080043). "As we celebrate the anniversary of the groundbreaking Americans with Disabilities Act, we must ensure our accessibility laws keep pace with the digital age," Markey said: "In the 13 years since Congress passed my" CVAA, "new technologies have brought new challenges for the disability community." Technology "evolved rapidly over the last two decades and much of our economy and day-to-day lives have moved online, but unfortunately, accessibility standards have stayed largely the same," Eshoo said: "Video conferencing and video streaming platforms used every day are not required to have audio descriptions or closed captions, leaving people with disabilities unable to use these tools that are essential to learn, work, connect with loved ones, and access crucial services."

The Senate Commerce Committee plans to mark up the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (S-1669) and five other tech and communications policy bills Thursday, as expected (see 2307200071), the panel said. S-1669 and House companion HR-3413 would mandate automakers include AM radio technology in future vehicles. Also on the agenda: the Orbital Sustainability Act (S-447), Kids Online Safety Act (S-1409), Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (S-1418), Launch Communications Act (S-1648) and American Cybersecurity Literacy Act (S-2201). The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell. S-447 would require the Commerce Department to work with the FCC and National Space Council to develop and promote standard practices for avoiding collisions and near hits between spacecraft in orbit (see 2209140062). Senate leaders see S-1409 and S-1418 as important components of a kids’ online privacy legislative package. S-1648 and House Commerce Committee-cleared companion HR-682 would require the FCC to streamline the authorization process for commercial launches’ access to spectrum (see 2303230077). S-2201 and House Commerce-approved companion HR-1360 would require NTIA to establish a cybersecurity literacy campaign to increase public knowledge and awareness of cybersecurity risks, including best practices for preventing cyberattacks (see 2303240065).

The Senate Commerce Committee will mark up kids’ privacy legislation next week, Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Thursday. The committee passed the Kids Online Safety Act (S-3663) with a 28-0 vote and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (S-1628) by voice vote in July 2022 (see 2207270057). “It’s been a priority,” said Cantwell. “We passed them out of committee last time, so we’ll probably do that again.” Asked if she’s optimistic about getting floor time this year, she said, “It’ll be up to” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., author of S-1628, told reporters Thursday: “We’re working hard to remove obstacles. That’s the job for today.” Social media created a “mental health crisis,” he said.