Addressing the FCC’s recent enforcement actions against broadcast networks, former Democratic FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said Wednesday that the commission should move quickly on current Chairman Brendan Carr’s proposal for a proceeding on the meaning of the FCC’s public interest standard (see 2412060067) so that boundaries are clear. In an article for the Brookings Institution, Wheeler said using “ill-defined government policy as a tool of political coercion is something that is historically associated with authoritarian governments.” The public interest proceeding would not only help eliminate the vagueness that plagues the chairman’s current interpretation, but it would also identify how he would enforce the rules when applied to broadcasters "that are much more one-sided in their support of [President Donald Trump's] policies,” Wheeler said. The proceeding should include a proposed definition from Carr, followed by an open public debate and an FCC vote, he said. The FCC chair’s power "to interpret the vague public interest doctrine invites its politicization,” he said. “Simply rattling the chairman’s saber can have a chilling effect on editorial and business decisions.”
The Senate confirmed Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary Tuesday night on a 51-45 party-line vote. Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, hailed the vote, as did several communications sector groups, including CTIA, NTCA, USTelecom and the Wireless Infrastructure Association. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., opposed Lutnick on the floor, citing concerns that he “would not commit” during his confirmation hearing “to standing by” Commerce Department commitments for disbursing Chips and Science Act funding (see 2501290047). Other Senate Commerce Democrats objected to Lutnick because he refused to say he would defy a potential directive from President Donald Trump to halt or alter distribution of $42.5 billion in BEAD funding and wouldn't commit that NTIA would maintain its approval of jurisdictions’ plans for that money. House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., said Lutnick “is the right person to run the Commerce Department” as it “plays a central role in promoting American leadership in AI and other cutting-edge technologies, along with closing the digital divide and utilizing the full range of communications technologies.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called three of his predecessors -- Democrats Tom Wheeler and Reed Hundt and Republican Alfred Sikes -- partisans with "TDS," or Trump derangement syndrome, after they condemned Carr's actions against media companies, according to a report in Status. “I gotta imagine it’s hard when the curtain is closing on your career and yet you’re still yearning for one more moment in the limelight,” Carr said. Hundt told Status that the FCC’s independence was intended to keep it from being used as a weapon to reward friends and punish enemies, while Sikes said the First Amendment should be “foundational” to the way the FCC acts. Wheeler said he reached “a breaking point” when the FCC announced an investigation into Comcast over its diversity, equity and inclusion practices. “They’re just partisans that are mad the Biden FCC didn’t do more to punish their political enemies,” Carr said. “In contrast to them, though, I will ensure that everyone gets a fair shake from this FCC.”
Wireless carriers must add spectrum and deepen their fiber commitment, New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin said Wednesday. “Carriers should buy every piece of spectrum they can get their hands on … because we’re going to run out at some point relatively soon,” he told a Broadband Breakfast webinar. “There’s a scramble for both categories of assets, and they’re both imperative.”
President Donald Trump’s latest norm-busting executive order (see 2502180069) directing the FCC, among other "so-called independent" agencies and executive branch bodies, to submit regulatory actions to the White House before they're published in the Federal Register could complicate Brendan Carr’s push to be an active chairman at the FCC, industry experts said Wednesday.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr mocked singer Sheryl Crow, described former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg as an expert in incompetence, and called Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., “very shifty” in a series of posts on X during the weekend, apparently defending SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Crow posted a video on Instagram that showed her Tesla being hauled away, with a caption saying she donated the money to NPR, "which is under threat by President Musk," in protest of recent efforts to defund the broadcaster. Carr reposted the video Saturday and called it an argument for why taxpayers shouldn’t subsidize NPR stations. “Bravo,” said Carr, who has opened an investigation into PBS and NPR underwriting. “Wouldn’t take too many celebrities following Sheryl Crow’s lead and selling their cars to keep NPR going without taxpayer dollars,” he added in a second post.
The FCC activated the disaster information reporting system and mandatory disaster response initiative over communications effects from severe flooding in Kentucky, said a public notice Monday. The systems are active for 10 Kentucky counties: Clay, Harlan, Knott, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Martin, Owsley, Perry and Pike. A DIRS update released Tuesday showed that 0.8% of cellsites and 7,247 cable and wireline subscribers were without service in the affected areas. "With historic flooding across Kentucky, President [Donald] Trump has taken action and this evening the FCC activated our systems to ensure that communications providers support mutual aid + roaming and provide reports on the status of communications networks," FCC Chairman Brendan Carr posted on X Monday night.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order Tuesday afternoon directing the FCC, other “so-called independent” federal agencies and all other executive branch entities to “submit for review all proposed and final significant regulatory actions” to the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) “before publication in the Federal Register.” Trump said “it shall be the policy of the executive branch to ensure Presidential supervision and control of the entire executive branch.” Then-President Bill Clinton's 1993 order that set up OIRA mostly exempted independent agencies but subjected them to some obligations.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us last week he is pessimistic about the chances that talks aimed at easing DOD supporters’ objections to repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band and other military-controlled frequencies will lead to a deal in time to allow congressional leaders to include expansive spectrum legislative language in a budget reconciliation package. Other congressional leaders in the spectrum talks noted ongoing efforts to assuage DOD backers. Lobbyists expect the DOD factor to come up repeatedly during a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing on spectrum legislative issues (see 2502130041).
FTC political appointees are prohibited from holding leadership roles in the American Bar Association, participating in ABA events or renewing ABA memberships, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson announced Feb. 14.