Republican ex-FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly marked the death of former Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., noting he respected the lawmaker's opposition to the commission approving Ligado’s L-band plan even though it prompted Inhofe placing a July 2020 hold on O'Rielly's reconfirmation (see 2007280039). Then-President Donald Trump withdrew O’Rielly’s renomination less than a week later for unrelated reasons (see 2008040061). “People suspect I was angered by his hold on my nomination years ago,” O’Rielly said. “To the contrary, I respected his engagement and views on a tough issue.” Inhofe, 89, died Tuesday.

The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday it expects the FCC would need $4 million to implement the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act (HR-820) in fiscal years 2024-2029. HR-820 would require the agency to publish a list of communications companies holding FCC licenses or other authorizations in which China and other foreign adversaries’ governments possess 10% or more ownership. The House Commerce Committee advanced the measure in March (see 2403200076). The FCC “would need five employees, at an annual cost of $200,000 per employee, for the first two years, to review existing grants of authority, and two employees after 2026 to review new applications and changes in ownership,” CBO said. “However, because the FCC is authorized to collect fees each year sufficient to offset the appropriated costs of its regulatory activities, CBO estimates that the net cost to the FCC would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority.”

FTC Chair Lina Khan and all four commissioners will testify July 9 during a budget hearing before the House Innovation Subcommittee, the House Commerce Committee announced Tuesday. The FTC’s “mission is to ensure that it enhances consumer welfare without imposing undue burdens on business,” House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said in a statement with House Innovation Subcommittee Chairman Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla. “We have been very clear over the last few years via hearings, letters, and legislation when we have seen a departure from that mission.”

The DOJ should expedite its review of allegations that TikTok violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers wrote Tuesday (see 2406180070). Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., along with Reps. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Kathy Castor, D-Fla., sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting the DOJ “expeditiously” review the FTC’s referral of a complaint against TikTok for potential COPPA violations. Five years after the company settled with the FTC over alleged COPPA violations, “TikTok is still failing to comply with COPPA,” the lawmakers wrote. “Given TikTok's previous violations of COPPA ... we urge the Department to expeditiously investigate these allegations and take all necessary action to protect children's online privacy." The lawmakers cited the surgeon general’s recent announcement linking social media use with a youth mental health crisis as one reason for an expedited review (see: 2406170059). Markey also urged passage of his and Cassidy’s Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0). Walberg and Castor introduced a House version of the measure in April.

The House Communications Subcommittee rescheduled a postponed hearing on the FCC's FY 2025 budget request for Tuesday, the Commerce Committee said Tuesday. The subpanel previously planned the hearing for early May (see 2405030068). “The U.S. maintains some of the most preeminent broadband networks in the world,” said House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R- Wash., and Communications Chair Bob Latta, R-Ohio. “This has resulted in lower costs and faster, more reliable services to Americans that have helped cement American innovation and leadership in next-generation technologies. Our networks have benefitted from a light-touch regulatory approach, which has allowed them to adapt and thrive. Unfortunately, recent actions by the FCC, including burdensome new regulations, threaten that light-touch system and people’s access to these critical services.” The House Appropriations Committee's FY 2025 funding bill for the FCC, which it advanced last month (see 2406140054), proposes increasing the commission's budget to $416 million but would bar the agency from using funds to enforce its net neutrality and digital discrimination orders.

The House Appropriations Committee plans to mark up the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee's FY 2025 funding bill Tuesday and the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee's FY25 measure July 10. CJS advanced its funding bill last week with allocation decreases for NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies and DOJ's Antitrust Division (see 2406260057). LHHS moved its FY25 measure without advance FY 2027 funding for CPB (see 2406270059). House Appropriations said Tuesday its July 9 CJS markup will begin at 9 a.m. in 2359 Rayburn. The LHHS markup will occur at the same time and location July 10.

Former FCC Chairmen Ajit Pai and Tom Wheeler on Sunday repeated their call that lawmakers consider repurposing “appropriated but unspent COVID-19-era funding” and future spectrum auction revenue as alternative ways of paying for next-generation 911 technology upgrades. “A one-time infusion of Federal funding is desperately needed to accelerate nationwide NG9-1-1 implementation,” the two wrote in a Seattle Times opinion piece. “Without it, lives will be lost, especially in lower-income and rural communities that may lag in the NG9-1-1 transition.” Congress “must make NG9-1-1 a top priority and pass legislation that empowers all levels of government to make ubiquitous NG9-1-1 a reality,” the ex-FCC chairs said. Pai and Wheeler were among nine ex-FCC chairs who wrote congressional leaders in February in favor of using either future spectrum proceeds or COVID-19 funding to pay for NG-911 (see 2402210073). Leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees have repeatedly proposed using spectrum revenue to fund as much as $15 billion in NG-911 upgrades, including a $2 billion allocation in the stalled Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) (see 2406180067). The Public Safety Next Generation 911 Coalition complained in April that S-4207’s $2 billion NG-911 appropriation is insufficient (see 2404300052).

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel defended a March Further NPRM that bans bulk billing arrangements between ISPs and multi-dwelling unit (MDU) owners (see 2403050069). Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., prompted Rosenworcel's response. In a May 20 letter released Friday, the lawmaker wrote the proposed ban “threatens both the affordability and accessibility of essential digital services” because the practice enables “seniors, fixed-income individuals, and other residents to aggregate their purchasing power.” ISPs argue banning bulk billing will bring broadband bill shock and market instability (see 2405080043). In a June 10 letter, Rosenworcel said the FNPRM “has the potential to empower consumer choice and boost competition, as well as build on the agency’s ongoing efforts to improve broadband transparency.” She acknowledged the FCC in 2010 “found that these arrangements can predominately offer benefits to consumers,” but “a lot can change in 14 years and, as is true with many policies in the telecommunications sector, it is often in the public interest to reexamine long-standing policies to ensure they have kept up with changes in technology and the marketplace, especially when it comes to consumer protection and choice.” The FNPRM “provides an opportunity to build a record on” bulk billing “that reflects the consumer experience today, and that is why it is important to have the public weigh in on these issues,” Rosenworcel said.

An expected Thursday House Commerce Committee markup session (see 2406210046) on the American Privacy Rights Act (HR-8818) and Kids Online Safety Act (HR-7891) will also include the revised AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-8449), the panel said Tuesday night. HR-8449, which the Innovation Subcommittee advanced in May (see 2405230057), would require DOT to mandate AM radio's inclusion in future electric vehicles. The Senate Commerce Committee advanced an earlier version of the bill (S-1669) last year (see 2307270063). The House Commerce meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn. HR-8449 supporter NAB earlier this month produced three radio ads backing the bill, with one highlighting that it “has brought legislators of all political stripes together to protect AM radio,” including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. The group also texted members earlier this week to “Tell Congress you want to keep AM radio in your car!”

The House Intellectual Property Subcommittee will consider legislative proposals related to radio royalty payments at a hearing Wednesday. The agenda includes two competing bills: the American Music Fairness Act (see 2302020068) and the Supporting the Local Radio Freedom Act (see 2108120059). NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt, SoundExchange CEO Michael Huppe, Radio One-Cleveland General Manager Eddie Harrell and musician Randy Travis will testify. The session will begin at 2 p.m. in 2141 Rayburn.