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.
Nearly 50 WISPA members were in Washington on Wednesday to meet with policymakers on issues important to wireless ISPs, the group said. On Capitol Hill, WISPA had scheduled more than 60 meetings with members of Congress and staff from both chambers, said a news release. “WISPs provide broadband to over 9 million Americans, primarily in unserved, under-resourced, and Tribal areas that too often fall outside the reach of traditional providers,” WISPA said: “By leveraging a mix of unlicensed spectrum, shared spectrum such as [citizens broadband radio service] and 6 GHz, and increasingly fiber, WISPs have long pioneered flexible, cost-effective broadband solutions -- often in places no one else would serve.” Matt Mandel, WISPA's vice president-government affairs, said WISPs are closing deployment gaps “faster and more affordably than legacy providers.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit lacks authority to review a Montana court's order transferring a case from four Blackfeet Nation tribe members against various trade actions taken by President Donald Trump to the Court of International Trade, the U.S. argued on May 1. Moving the court to dismiss the case, the government said the appellate court "reviews final orders, but an order transferring a case under 28 U.S.C. § 1631 for litigation to continue in another court is necessarily not final" (Susan Webber v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 9th Cir. # 25-2717).
CEO Emmett Fitch and others from OptimERA met with aides to FCC Commissioners Nathan Simington and Anna Gomez on the company’s proposal for mobile service under the Alaska Connect Fund. Fitch provided “background on OptimERA’s history, current cellular business, and plans to develop and launch new cellular service in dozens of small, unserved, tribal villages in Alaska,” said a filing Thursday in docket 23-328.
CTIA’s proposal that the FCC launch a rulemaking to update its rules implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is facing huge backlash from states and tribal groups (see 2503270059). CTIA also asked the commission to tackle restrictions under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The petition received support from industry. Comments were due Wednesday in RM-12003.
A possible Vermont version of Daniel’s Law (H-342) is “not dead, but it is not moving,” state Rep. Monique Priestley (D) said Thursday on Vermont Perspective, a radio show on WDEV. After the show, Priestley told us in a phone interview that another piece of legislation, her comprehensive privacy bill, remains “very much in play.”
CTIA urged the FCC to schedule an AWS-3 reauction without delay and dismiss calls for a tribal licensing window, according to reply comments on a March public notice on FCC bidding procedures. The record that’s been developed “demonstrates broad support for the Commission’s proposed procedures, including the efficient, time-tested Clock-1 auction format,” CTIA said this week in docket 25-117. In initial comments, the group disagreed sharply with tribal interests that urged a tribal window (see 2504110040).
The following are short summaries of recent CBP NY rulings issued by the agency's National Commodity Specialist Division in New York:
The U.S. District Court for the District of Montana on April 25 transferred a case filed by four members of the Blackfeet Nation tribe challenging the tariffs on Canada issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to the Court of International Trade. Judge Dana Christensen held that two cases establishing the trade court's exclusive jurisdiction to hear cases arising out of the Trading With the Enemy Act, IEEPA's predecessor, confirm CIT's exclusive jurisdiction to hear cases involving IEEPA, given that IEEPA has the "same operative language as that contained in the TWEA" (Susan Webber v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, D.Mont. # 4:25-00026).
The Montana Farmers Union moved to intervene in a case brought by four members of the Blackfeet Nation indigenous tribe challenging various trade action taken by President Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. The agriculture trade group said it qualifies for intervention as a "matter of right," alternatively arguing that the court should permit the group to intervene even if it doesn't have the right to intervene (Susan Webber v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, D. Mont. # 4:25-00026).