House leaders are eyeing floor votes by the end of the week on an FY 2026 minibus appropriations package that would reduce the scope of President Donald Trump’s proposed funding cuts for NTIA and raise allocations for the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the DOJ Antitrust Division. The package, which leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees released Monday, would give NTIA $50 million for FY26. That’s more than 8% higher than what Trump proposed in June (see 2506020056) but still 12% lower than what the agency received for FY 2025.
The Consumer Technology Association and the Telecommunications Industry Association sought clarification of parts of the FCC’s October order further tightening its equipment authorization rules (see 2510280024). The order makes clear that “covered equipment includes modular transmitters” and prohibits such gear from authorization by companies on the FCC’s “covered list.” It also provides a process for limiting previously granted authorizations without restricting continued operation or use.
The FCC approved 3-0 Thursday, with few changes, an order and further NPRM on expanding the commission’s VoIP numbering authorization rules (see 2512170039). Also at the meeting, commissioners addressed low-power TV and translator stations in a second item approved unanimously and, for the sixth consecutive month, adopted a direct final rule (DFR) to expunge a set of what the agency said are obsolete and unnecessary rules.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., confirmed after Tuesday's subpanel hearing that there's still no clear funding mechanism for proposed federal grants to pay for next-generation 911 technology upgrades. However, he said he's open to providing a smaller first tranche of money to states and localities while trying to establish a new cost estimate for the full buildout. Witnesses at the hearing praised the Hudson-led Next Generation 911 Act (HR-6505), as expected (see 2512150035), even though it doesn’t include a defined amount of NG911 funding. A previous iteration of the measure in the last Congress allocated $15 billion for the tech upgrades (see 2303240067).
The Center for American Rights kicked off an online campaign Monday supporting the elimination of the broadcast TV ownership cap and targeting the Senate Commerce Committee's FCC oversight hearing Wednesday. In an interview, CAR President Daniel Suhr told us he bases the group’s FCC filings on President Donald Trump’s social media posts and public comments. He added that CAR’s focus on media resonates with conservatives and has raised its profile, increasing donations to the organization.
The space industry has good communication channels with the U.S. government, but the efficacy of discussions among its agencies about space policy and regulation are less clear, space experts said Tuesday at a seminar in Washington organized by ForumGlobal. Tahara Dawkins, Astroscale's policy director, called for one set of rules across agencies, noting that it’s unclear if, for example, the FCC is talking with NOAA when they craft their regulations. Commercial Space Federation (CSF) Executive Director Alicia Brown added that there must be greater efforts to avoid regulatory conflicts and duplication in areas like payload reviews.
Senate Communications Subcommittee members alternated Tuesday between debating the FCC’s rollback last month of its January response to the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks and making bipartisan calls to renew the 2015 Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr led the push for the agency to reverse January's declaratory ruling from the closing days of former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s administration, which said the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act Section 105 requires telecom carriers to secure their networks against cyberattacks (see 2501160041). The FCC in November also withdrew an NPRM on cybersecurity requirements that the commission issued along with the declaratory ruling (see 2511200047).
A state law barring the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) from sharing information about Lifeline program subscribers with other government agencies, including immigration authorities, means the state can no longer do its own Lifeline subscriber verifications, according to the FCC. The Wireline Bureau ordered Thursday that the state could no longer opt out of using the National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD) federal verification system. "Going forward, federal processes will be used to conduct eligibility verifications and perform duplicate checks for federal Lifeline program applicants in California."
The House Communications Subcommittee on Tuesday advanced a new version of the American Broadband Deployment Act (HR-2289) that combined language from 22 GOP-led connectivity permitting bills originally slated for the markup session (see 2511170048). However, the subpanel’s party-line 16-12 vote on the package reflected Democrats’ ongoing opposition. The House Commerce Committee during the last Congress similarly divided along party lines on a previous version of the broadband package, which never reached the floor amid strong Democratic resistance (see 2305230067).
Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and other witnesses at a Public Knowledge event Wednesday called for Congress to end what they see as actions by Chairman Brendan Carr's commission infringing media's First Amendment rights. PK CEO Chris Lewis framed the event as the first in an anticipated series of “people’s oversight” hearings on the FCC and other federal agencies in response to what he sees as Congress’ failure to counter Trump administration actions against the president's perceived enemies.