Senate Commerce Committee Democrats appeared set Tuesday afternoon to pillory Republican FCC candidate Olivia Trusty during her confirmation hearing Wednesday over concerns about the commission's independence from the Trump administration and Chairman Brendan Carr’s actions since he took the gavel Jan. 20. Congressional Democrats have amplified concerns about the FCC’s future independence since President Donald Trump’s disputed firing of both party-affiliated FTC commissioners (see 2504010053). Trusty’s hearing will immediately follow a scheduled 10 a.m. Senate Commerce meeting to vote on NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth, which is likely to see her advance with strong GOP support and little to no Democratic backing (see 2504080059). Both events will occur in 253 Russell.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr pushed back against a probe by Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., of eight investigations of broadcasters that the Enforcement and Media bureaus launched since Carr took over Jan. 20 (see 2503140055). The FCC probes thus far focus on broadcasters that have carried content critical of President Donald Trump or otherwise face claims of pro-Democratic Party bias. Carr has, in some cases, said the scrutiny is focused on other matters (see 2502110063). House Commerce Committee Democrats are also investigating Carr's broadcaster actions (see 2503310046).
Expect House floor consideration for the Kids Online Safety Act and the Take It Down Act, House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., said Wednesday.
A Pennsylvania House Committee teed up a potentially imminent floor vote on a comprehensive privacy bill. The Commerce Committee voted unanimously by voice Tuesday to advance HB-78 to the floor. At a livestreamed meeting, the committee also adopted by voice an amendment to delay by six months the proposed effective date to one year after it’s enacted.
A deepfake porn bill gaining congressional momentum poses encryption-related privacy issues, policy groups said Wednesday.
Maryland should create an AI working group instead of passing high-risk AI legislation modeled after Virginia’s potential AI law, tech industry representatives told Maryland’s Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.
President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking greater control of independent agencies like the FTC will politicize the regulatory process and result in further bureaucratic delay, Democratic senators and stakeholders told us in interviews Wednesday. Capitol Hill Republicans and Democrats were divided along party lines in support and against Trump’s executive action.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied a motion for a temporary restraining order against the Education Department, as sought by the University of California Student Association (USCA). Judge Randolph Moss ruled Monday that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to student data and records will not cause the plaintiffs irreparable harm, so a TRO is unnecessary. However, DOGE faced a new lawsuit at the same court Monday, this time challenging the entity's access to sensitive information at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Expect big changes to BEAD, with the Donald Trump administration and congressional Republicans rewriting the rules and putting more emphasis on efficient use of funding, tech policy experts said Tuesday at the annual State of the Net conference. Consultant Mike O'Rielly, a former FCC commissioner, said NTIA isn't likely to process any state's final proposals in the near term as it awaits where the administration and Congress take BEAD. States must be flexible and ready to pivot once that new direction becomes clear, he added.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed suit against the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Monday. EPIC called DOGE’s allegedly illegal seizure of personnel records and payment system data “the largest data breach in American history.”