Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's campaign released a statement Wednesday warning the “media” that “biased and rude treatment” of Trump will “backfire massively” and will be its "undoing." The statement came after ABC News reporter Rachel Scott interviewed Trump at a National Association of Black Journalists conference, where she began by asking Trump why Black voters should trust him in light of his birther attacks against President Barack Obama, meetings with white supremacists and other incidents and comments. Trump berated Scott at length for the question, and the Trump campaign later called her behavior “unacceptable": “You would think that the media would have learned something from their repeat episodes of fake outrage ever since President Trump first came down the escalator in 2015, but some just refuse to ‘get it,’” said the news release. “This will be their undoing in 2024." Trump has repeatedly called for the FCC to take action against news outlets over their reporting, both as president and as a candidate (see 2401170050).
Senate Republicans on Wednesday signaled they want Donald Trump to rescind President Joe Biden’s AI executive order if the former president wins the November election.
A case before the U.S. Supreme Court, Consumers' Research, et al. v. Consumer Product Safety Commission, potentially has major implications for the FCC and FTC, and could permit a president to fire a commissioner at will, industry lawyers said. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other conservative groups are asking SCOTUS in amicus filings to grant the writ of certiorari from Consumers' Research.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling Wednesday against the FCC's Universal Service Fund contribution factor for the first quarter of 2022 will likely have little to no immediate impact on the commission's USF-funded programs and providers contributing to the fund, trade groups and legal experts told us (see 2407240043). It's uncertain how the U.S. Supreme Court would interpret conflicting rulings of the 5th, 6th and 11th circuits. Consumers' Research asked SCOTUS in a supplemental brief filed Thursday (docket 23-456) to grant rehearing as a result of the circuit split.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper possess the best telecom policy credentials among the main contenders to be the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee, broadband advocates and other policy observers told us. All the contenders hold broadly similar views to Vice President Kamala Harris on broadband and telecom policy matters, but could bring different perspectives to the ticket, experts said in interviews last week.
The Senate voted 86-1 Thursday to advance two kids’ safety bills, with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., casting the lone no vote (see 2407240057).
The Senate should pass kids’ privacy legislation without amendments, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told us Wednesday.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pressed NPR Tuesday for information about its funding sources amid the House GOP's push to end CPB’s advance funding for FY 2027. Thus far no lawmakers have tried stopping the House from moving forward on the Appropriations Committee-cleared Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee FY 2025 funding bill (HR-9029), which excludes advance money for the broadcasting network. House leaders meanwhile pulled the Appropriations-approved FY 2025 FCC-FTC funding bill (HR-8773) from planned floor consideration Monday, delaying potential floor votes on filed amendments that seek to undo a ban on the FCC implementing an equity action plan and increase the FTC’s annual funding (see 2407100060).
Stop Project 2025 Task Force founder Rep. Jared Huffman of California and 15 additional House Democrats asked FCC Inspector General Fara Damelin and other federal watchdogs Wednesday to investigate “potential ethics violations” by Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr related to his writing the telecom chapter of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 manifesto. Carr, seen as the front-runner to lead the FCC if former President Donald Trump wins a second term (see 2407120002), urged in the Project 2025 chapter to roll back Communications Decency Act Section 230 protections for tech companies, deregulate broadband infrastructure and restrict Chinese companies. Trump has disavowed Project 2025 and its proposals.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overruled the Chevron doctrine (see 2406280043), and in SEC v. Jarkesy (see 2406270063) were “a good thing,” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said Wednesday during a Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council webinar. Other former FCC officials disagreed sharply with the rulings that appear to expand judges' power while reining in regulatory agencies like the FCC.