The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted an administrative stay late Tuesday afternoon that temporarily blocked a White House OMB memo, which called for a freeze on most federal grants and loans, from going into effect. The Trump administration memo already faced an array of legal challenges, including a planned lawsuit from a coalition of Democratic attorneys general from New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island. Broadband officials and industry advocates raised questions about the memo's constitutionality and the future of certain FCC programs, such as Lifeline. Others warned the freeze could have serious implications for NTIA's BEAD program.
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The effective date of the one-to-one robotext consent order was pushed off a year, to Jan. 26, 2026, FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Acting Chief Eduard Bartholme said in an order in Monday's Daily Digest. Issued Friday, the order cited a pending judicial review of the policy. Also on Friday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found for the appellant, Insurance Marketing Coalition, in its suit challenging the order (see 2501240068). The 11th Circuit vacated part of the order and remanded it to the FCC for further proceedings. Decisions from the 11th Circuit "will hurt consumers, small businesses and the American phone system,” Electronic Privacy Information Center lawyer Chris Frascella said in a joint statement Monday with Public Knowledge and the National Consumer Law Center. “This is particularly disheartening because the rule was a very simple but impactful protection: companies could only sell your consent to receive robocalls if you provided an individual record of consent (e.g. a checkbox) for each company you consented to receiving robocalls from," Frascella said.
Broadband VI (BBVI) held a successful meeting with the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Public Works (DPW) and restarted some of its work there under the Connect USVI Fund, the provider told the FCC. The DPW issued a stop work order Nov. 21 and “was refusing to move forward with any additional permits,” said a filing last week in docket 10-90. After meeting with the company, the DPW commissioner agreed that BBVI can “expeditiously resume work in the DPW approved areas,” the provider said. BBVI will also regularly meet with DPW officials “to resolve any remaining discrepancies between the parties.”
Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., led refiling Monday of the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act. The measure, which the House passed last year (see 2409100039), would require the FCC 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. House leaders also included the measure’s language in an unsuccessful December continuing resolution (see 2412180033). Rep. Thomas Kean, R-N.J., and three other lawmakers plan to bow a House companion, Fischer’s office said. “Authoritarian regimes like China and Russia are actively working to undermine the security of our domestic communications,” Fischer said in a statement. “My bill will better position the FCC to evaluate the risks foreign ties pose to America’s national security so that we can respond to these network infrastructure threats.”
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Monday he and 12 other panel Republicans filed a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to undo a July 2024 FCC order that lets schools and libraries use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services, as expected (see 2501160039). Cruz has repeatedly opposed proposals expanding E-rate’s scope to pay for off-campus hot spots (see 2307310063). The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals tossed Maurine and Matthew Molak's challenge to the July order (see 2409260046) but is still reviewing another case the couple brought against the FCC’s 2023 declaratory ruling (docket 23-60641) clarifying that Wi-Fi on school buses is an educational purpose eligible for E-rate funding. Cruz said in a statement that the CRA resolution aims to “reverse the Biden FCC’s overreach and put parents back in control of their children’s online access.” Every “parent of a young child or teenager either worries about, or knows first-hand, the real dangers of the internet,” Cruz said. “The government shouldn’t be complicit in harming students or impeding parents’ ability to decide what their kids see by subsidizing unsupervised access to inappropriate content.” Other Republicans who co-sponsored the CRA resolution include Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi.
AT&T CEO John Stankey said Monday the carrier will move aggressively to shutter more of its legacy copper network in coming months, filing applications at the FCC to stop selling legacy products in about 1,300 wire centers. That is about a quarter of AT&T’s footprint, officials said on a call discussing Q4 results. AT&T also announced that its growth is continuing, with 482,000 postpaid phone subscription net adds in the quarter and 307,000 AT&T Fiber adds.
New FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s decision to pull all items on circulation for a vote by commissioners wasn’t a surprise, industry officials said. Since taking office a week ago, President Donald Trump has pushed a deregulatory agenda and issued a regulatory freeze among a slew of executive orders on his first day (see 2501210070). Among the FCC items withdrawn was a controversial NPRM that former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated in March on banning bulk broadband billing in multi-tenant environments (see 2408010064).
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr appoints: Tom Sullivan as acting chief, Office of International Affairs, replacing Troy Tanner; Catherine Matraves as acting chief, Office of Economics and Analytics; Katie Gorscak as acting director, Office of Media Relations, replacing Paloma Perez Christie … Salt Point Strategies names Anderson Helton, ex-staffer for Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Milla Anderson, ex-FCC, as vice presidents … FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks moves Wireline Bureau's Kiara Ortiz to acting legal adviser, replacing Anderson.
The FCC should consider blanket mission requests when it examines space launch frequency coordination, Virgin Galactic said in a filing posted Friday. It said it plans to launch every three days and asked that operators with high flight cadences of similar or identical profiles be allowed to submit requests that cover multiple missions. The agency is considering space launch licensing and frequency coordination procedures and data requirements (see 2501230025).
Responsible Enterprises Against Consumer Harassment (REACH) countered the arguments made against its request for a stay of the FCC's one-to-one robotext consent rules (see 2501230037). Absent FCC action, the rules become effective Monday. “Contrary to the National Consumer and Privacy Groups’ contentions, the request for a stay aligns with both executive authority and the [Administrative Procedure Act’s] legal framework,” REACH said in a filing posted Friday in docket 02-278. “The request also ensures a fair and thorough review of the Rule, taking into consideration important issues that may affect small businesses, consumers, and broader market dynamics.”