Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on Thursday urged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to testify on Capitol Hill in response to the Trump administration allowing sales of the company's more advanced H200 AI chips to China. Warren said during a floor speech that she is concerned that President Donald Trump may force DOJ to curtail a crackdown begun earlier this week on smuggling of such chips to China. “Will Donald Trump muzzle his own [DOJ] because he does not want Americans to know that he is selling out our national security?” she asked. The White House, Commerce Department and Nvidia didn't immediately comment.
The Senate voted 75-22 Thursday on a motion to proceed to the House-passed compromise version of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (S-1071) that omits Senate-passed language from its earlier NDAA version (S-2296) that would have given the DOD and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman authority to essentially veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands (see 2512080055). The House’s original NDAA version (HR-3838) didn't include similar language. The compromise NDAA also omits language to preempt states’ AI laws amid GOP divisions on that issue (see 2512030038). The House passed S-1071 312-112 Wednesday.
A compromise version before the House of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act without language allowing DOD to essentially veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands (see 2512080055) "is good as a matter of policy & law," the Free State Foundation wrote Tuesday on social media. Giving DOD authority over the spectrum "would violate separation of powers by constraining [the president's] authority over the executive branch." The group called the provision's removal a victory for Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, "who resisted the efforts to place certain frequencies off-limits."
The House Communications Subcommittee plans a hearing Tuesday on the Next Generation 911 Act (HR-6505) and six other public-safety communications measures, the Commerce Committee said Tuesday night. The newly refiled HR-6505 would appropriate an undefined amount of funding for next-generation 911 tech upgrades for FY 2026-30. NG911 advocates have been pressing Congress to identify a new funding source after Republican lawmakers decided against allocating future spectrum auction revenue for the tech upgrades in the July budget reconciliation package (see 2507080065).
Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida, lead GOP sponsor of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979), acknowledged Tuesday night that the House’s timeline for passing the bill has slipped slightly but insisted that its leaders still plan to bring it to the floor for a vote soon. He and other backers of HR-979 and Senate companion S-315 had expected a fast-track House vote earlier this month on the measure, which would require the Department of Transportation to mandate that future automobiles include AM radio technology.
President Donald Trump signed off Thursday night on an executive order that would direct NTIA to potentially curtail non-deployment funding from the $42.5 billion BEAD program for states that the Trump administration determines have AI laws that are overly burdensome. Some estimates have found that $20 billion in BEAD funding qualifies as non-deployment money. Trump's order is identical to a draft proposal, circulated in November, that drew significant bipartisan opposition.
The House plans to vote this week on a compromise version of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, released Sunday night. The compromise bill omits Senate-passed language from its earlier version (S-2296) that would have given the DOD and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman authority to essentially veto commercial use of the 3.1-3.45 and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands (see 2510160057). The House’s NDAA version (HR-3838) didn't include similar language. The compromise NDAA, filed as an amendment to shell bill S-1071, also omits language to preempt states’ AI laws amid GOP divisions on that issue (see 2512030038).
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters Tuesday that a compromise version of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act still under negotiation won’t include language to preempt states’ AI laws, amid ongoing concerns about proposals tying such a pause to funding from the $42.5 billion BEAD broadband program. President Donald Trump has been eyeing a draft executive order that could force NTIA to deny non-deployment BEAD funding to states with AI laws that the administration deems overly onerous (see 2511200057).
The House Commerce Committee advanced the American Broadband Deployment Act (HR-2289) Wednesday by a closer-than-expected 26-24 party-line vote, with unified Democratic opposition and a smattering of Republican absences at that point in the markup session. The panel also unanimously advanced the Broadband and Telecommunications Rail Act (HR-6046) and five other bipartisan connectivity bills, as expected (see 2512020063).
The House Commerce Committee is planning a meeting Wednesday to mark up the Communications Subcommittee-cleared American Broadband Deployment Act (HR-2289) and six bipartisan connectivity bills that the subpanel advanced in November (see 2511180053). House Commerce said Monday night that the bills on the docket are the Federal Broadband Deployment Tracking Act (HR-1343), Facilitating the Deployment of Infrastructure With Greater Internet Transactions and Legacy Applications Act (HR-1588), Deploying Infrastructure With Greater Internet Transactions and Legacy Applications Act (HR-1665), Expediting Federal Broadband Deployment Reviews Act (HR-1681), Standard Fees to Expedite Evaluation and Streamlining Act (HR-1731) and the Broadband and Telecommunications Rail Act (HR-6046).