The National Treasury Employees Union wants the U.S. District Court for the D.C. Circuit to rule that the White House’s order ending collective bargaining at the FCC and numerous other federal agencies is illegal, said a motion for summary judgment filed Monday. The order said more than 30 federal agencies -- including the FCC, Department of Veterans Affairs and IRS -- fall under a national security exemption from congressional collective bargaining rules. That exemption had previously applied only to a few entities, such as the CIA. The district court issued an injunction blocking the order in April, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stayed last month.
Two Texas associations this week petitioned the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals asking it to overturn a January declaratory ruling by the FCC in response to the Salt Typhoon cyberattacks. CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom previously asked the FCC to reconsider the ruling (see 2502190081), which now-Chairman Brendan Carr had opposed (see 2501160041). Commissioners approved it 3-2 in the final days of the Biden administration.
Former FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington's suggestion that streaming platforms be subject to MVPD-like regulation (see 2505270054) lacks statutory justification and is the wrong approach from a competition policy standpoint, Free State Foundation wrote Monday. It argued that the better way to put virtual MVPDs on the same regulatory footing as traditional MVPDs is to roll back rules governing satellite and cable TV. Under the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, it's likely that federal courts would determine that the federal law governing the FCC's authority over MVPDs doesn't extend to virtual MVPDs, the group said.
Debt collection interests pushed FCC leadership to eliminate the "revoke all" rule during a meeting with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's office, according to a filing posted Monday in docket 25-133. ACA International and others said there's broad support for reviewing Telephone Consumer Protection Act implementation, including the "revoke all" rule, as well as restoring the established business relationship exemption and extending it to calls to wireless numbers. They said there's also wide support for harmonizing FCC rules with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act's requirements. Meeting with Carr's office were ACA CEO Scott Purcell and representatives of American Profit Recovery, Collection Bureau Services and Encore Capital Group. The "revoke all" rule relates to consumers’ ability to revoke consent to receive robocalls and texts.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr likely has a plan for what the agency will do if it has only two commissioners and no quorum for a lengthy period of time, John Strand of Strand Consult said Monday. “In a Congress with such thin margins and one in the midst of controversial items, getting personnel approved quickly is not necessarily realistic,” he said in an email. “Seasoned government leaders should not be surprised. Telecommunications are the foundation of the modern America, one can only appeal to bipartisan responsibility.”
Federated Wireless representatives urged the FCC to protect citizens broadband radio service operations from harmful interference in a meeting with an aide to Chairman Brendan Carr. There are “practical, near-term improvements” to CBRS operations that “can be readily implemented,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-258. They include “more realistic incumbent protections, higher base station power and harmonized out-of-band emissions.”
The FCC released Monday a small-entity compliance guide on recent changes to wireless emergency alert rules (see 2502270042). “Participating wireless providers must support an alert originator’s selection of whether a WEA message will be presented silently, i.e., without triggering the common audio attention, the common vibration cadence, or both, in the mobile device presenting the WEA Alert Message,” the guide says. “If the alert originator indicates that a specific alert should not play the attention signal and should not cause the device to vibrate, then participating wireless providers should send those instructions to the device in an appropriate manner resulting in the device executing the instructions.”
A Trump administration cybersecurity executive order released Friday is a positive step in efforts to roll out the voluntary cyber trust mark program, the Consumer Technology Association said Monday. The order mandates that by Jan. 4, 2027, all IoT devices sold to the government must carry the cyber trust mark. “This is an important step in making many years of work by CTA, industry, and government to raise the bar on cybersecurity of connected devices a reality,” David Grossman, vice president of policy and regulatory affairs, said in an email. The program was approved 5-0 by FCC commissioners last year (see 2403140034).
The FCC received both support and additional questions in response to a public notice on the telecommunications relay services (TRS) fund administrator’s latest proposed provider compensation formulas and funding requirements (see 2505220039). Comments were due Friday in docket 03-123. The proposed formulas would apply starting July 1 and run through June 30, 2026.
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau approved a waiver Monday for the Edison Electric Institute, which asked for clarity that utilities have prior express consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to send demand response texts and calls to their customers (see 2503100047). “A tool utilities have to manage grid burden is ‘demand response’ communications that inform customers of actions that they can take to help avoid potential service disruptions and price increases during high demand periods, often saving money on their bills in the process,” the bureau said. “We confirm that such calls and texts are ‘closely related’ to the utility service. Our action will promote reliable utility service to customers as well as cost savings to consumers.”