A coalition of 22 states filed a lawsuit seeking to reverse the Trump administration's sweeping freeze on federal grants and loans. The outcome of the lawsuit will "probably" affect NTIA's Digital Equity Act (DEA) grant programs, said Andrew Schwartzman, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society's senior counselor. "The qualification is that the government hasn't filed anything yet, and there are no motions or other pleadings that expand on what is said in the complaint," he said. The administration ended the $2.5 billion DEA grant program in May, causing states to cancel all contracts that would have used that money (see 2505090051).
Lawyers for the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society said Monday that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month upholding the USF was a clean win for the program and the FCC (see 2507020049). By rejecting the challenge -- brought by Consumers’ Research, a right-wing group -- SCOTUS lifted a cloud that has loomed over the USF for years, the lawyers said during an SHLB webinar.
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling Friday that likely means less certainty for FCC actions and those of other federal agencies under the Hobbs Act. The decision comes a year after SCOTUS overruled the Chevron doctrine, which had required courts to give deference to agency decisions, in the Loper Bright case (see 2406280043). The latest from the court was Friday's 6-3 decision in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, a much-watched case on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (see 2506200011).
The Trump Organization announced Monday that later this year, it will launch Trump Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator, and a gold-colored smartphone, which it said will eventually be made in the U.S. The launch would create ethics concerns regardless, but even more so given the Trump administration's pressure for the FCC to answer directly to the White House, public interest groups said.
A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is expected in a matter of weeks in the Consumers' Research case challenging the USF contribution factor and the USF generally, even as SCOTUS wades through numerous emergency petitions from the Trump administration, industry experts said Wednesday during a Broadband Breakfast webinar. USF likely needs an overhaul, they added, but that could be difficult if the FCC loses at SCOTUS, which typically issues several high-profile decisions in June.
The FCC on Friday announced commission approval of Verizon’s $20 billion acquisition of Frontier, in an action by the Wireline Bureau (see 2505160024). The approval came immediately after Verizon filed a letter at the FCC agreeing to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a recurring focus of President Donald Trump. DEI defenders criticized the order. Industry officials told us one reason FCC Chairman Brendan Carr probably didn’t seek a commissioner vote was because of the DEI provisions and concerns about opposition from the two Democratic commissioners.
The actions of independent regulatory commissions, including the FCC, are now being reviewed by the White House via OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) and its procedures. Former OIRA leaders and other observers said in interviews that the new procedures may not result in substantial revisions of rulemakings by agencies answering directly to President Donald Trump, but they could slow adoption and implementation. In February, Trump ordered the commissions to submit proposed regulatory actions to OIRA before they appear in the Federal Register (see 2502180069). That took effect April 21, according to interim OMB guidance last month.
The outlook on what happens next on the Digital Equity Act (DEA) is uncertain after President Donald Trump said his administration won’t fund the program. Congress approved DEA in 2021 as part of a $1 trillion infrastructure package under former President Joe Biden. In a Truth Social post late Thursday, Trump said he's canceling DEA, which industry officials predicted will lead to inevitable legal challenges and months if not years of uncertainty.
A petition by major trade associations asking the FCC for a rulemaking on the commission's enforcement procedures, especially in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 Jarkesy decision, raises interesting issues for the agency under Chairman Brendan Carr, industry experts told us. The groups on the petition are CTIA, the Competitive Carriers Association, NCTA, USTelecom and the Wireless Infrastructure Association (see 2505010058). Experts said they’re watching closely what the FCC does next.
Lawyers for the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society said Wednesday that groups defending the USF had a good day last week, as the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the Consumers' Research case (see 2503260061). They spoke during a SHLB webinar.