Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Communications Subcommittee ranking member Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., led the refiling Wednesday of the 988 Lifeline Location Improvement Act to create a multi-stakeholder advisory committee to examine policy and other issues with transmitting location information of calls to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline system. The committee will in part explore ways that local call centers can more efficiently dispatch emergency services to callers. The senators cited support from the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International and National Alliance on Mental Illness.
The Senate Commerce Committee voted 15-13 Wednesday, along party lines, to advance Ethan Klein, President Donald Trump’s nominee for associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said during the meeting that she opposes Klein because of his “insufficient” answers to a range of policy questions at his Sept. 17 confirmation hearing.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., on Tuesday urged FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to “reverse course” on his draft order undoing the agency’s response earlier this year to the Salt Typhoon attacks. The agency is set to vote on the proposal Thursday (see 2510300054). The FCC ruled in January that Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) Section 105 requires telecom carriers to secure their networks against cyberattacks (see 2501160041). Carr’s draft would also withdraw an NPRM on cybersecurity requirements that was issued along with the declaratory ruling.
CTIA CEO Ajit Pai urged congressional leaders Thursday against reaching a deal on a “final version” of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act that includes Section 1564 from the Senate-passed version of the measure (S-2296), which would give the DOD and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman authority to essentially veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands. The Senate in October passed S-2296 with the military veto intact, despite a bid from Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to jettison that provision (see 2510070037). House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., and several other industry groups have also opposed the veto language (see 2510090048). The House-passed NDAA (HR-3838) doesn’t include a similar military veto.
The Senate Commerce Committee said Friday night that it plans to hold a much-anticipated FCC oversight hearing Dec. 17. Panel Democrats have been pressing since late September for Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to bring in FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to face questions about his mid-September comments against ABC and parent Disney, which were widely perceived as instigating the network’s since-reversed decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air (see 2509220059). Cruz was among several Republicans who also criticized Carr’s comments (see 2509190059).
A compromise package to reopen the federal government (HR-5371) that the House and Senate are expected to vote on soon (see 2511100022) would also enact FY 2026 funding for the Agriculture Department with more rural broadband money than Congress proposed earlier this year. HR-5371’s USDA funding section includes $108.5 million for rural broadband programs, 13% more than the $96 million that the House and Senate included in slightly different versions of a minibus funding bill they passed in June (HR-3944).
The Senate was expected to vote late Friday on a motion to proceed to an amended version of the Shutdown Fairness Act (S-3012) as Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., predicted that the chamber would likely “be here for the weekend” for talks aimed at ending the government shutdown, which started Oct. 1 (see 2509300060).
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., confirmed Thursday that she won't seek reelection to the San Francisco-based seat she has held for 20 terms, potentially paving the way for California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D), who has focused on tech and telecom policy issues, to succeed her. Pelosi led the House for four terms, from 2007-11 and 2019-23, most recently when Democrats had a majority in the chamber. She relinquished her leadership role at the beginning of the last Congress to now-Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
The Senate passed the Network Equipment Transparency Act (S-503) on Tuesday night by unanimous consent. The measure, which the Senate Commerce Committee advanced in May (see 2505210076), would direct the FCC to report every two years on the impact of gear availability on the deployment of broadband and other communications services as part of the commission’s assessment of the state of the communications marketplace.
Cyndi Lauper, Barry Manilow and 14 other recording artists urged congressional leaders Tuesday against passing the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979/S-315) unless it moves in tandem with the American Music Fairness Act (HR-861/S-326). HR-979/S-315 would require the Department of Transportation to mandate that future automobiles include AM radio technology, mostly affecting electric vehicles. The House Commerce Committee advanced HR-979 in September (see 2509170068), while the Senate Commerce Committee advanced the slightly different S-315 in February.