Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., filed cloture Friday night on White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director nominee Michael Kratsios, setting up likely votes on him the week of March 24. The Senate Commerce Committee advanced Kratsios last week on a bipartisan 24-4 vote (see 2503120069).
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Thursday night that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is “exactly right” in urging Congress to mandate a pipeline of reallocated spectrum in conjunction with a restoration of the commission's lapsed auction authority. Carr said in a letter to Cruz and other leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees that enacting “legislation that establishes a new pipeline of mid-band spectrum is vital to our economy and national security.” The FCC, Carr said, “will make any and all of the spectrum allocations and license changes necessary to comply” with any new statute.
The Washington House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill aimed at expanding digital equity. State Rep. Mia Gregerson (D) introduced the bill, H-1503, which would give the state Department of Commerce "primary responsibility for increasing access to broadband and related infrastructure." It would also direct the Office of Equity to facilitate "the provision of digital devices and services to individuals and communities in Washington."
The Senate Commerce Committee advanced White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director nominee Michael Kratsios and FTC nominee Mark Meador on Wednesday, with some panel Democrats joining all Republicans in supporting President Donald Trump’s picks. Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and seven other Democrats voted against Meador. Cantwell noted that Meador “hedged” in his responses to questions from her and other Democrats about whether he would “refuse to carry out illegal orders from” Trump. “The answer from any nominee should simply be ‘no,’” she said: “I just don’t believe today that [Meador] is the right person for the FTC. We need somebody who believes that they’re not just a rubber stamp for the president, but have responsibilities and duties to carry out.”
The Trump administration is eyeing an expedited review of federal spectrum holdings to identify bands that GOP lawmakers could mandate for reallocation in a coming budget reconciliation package, a former Commerce Department official and communications sector lobbyists told us. Telecom-focused congressional leaders indicated some progress in Capitol Hill negotiations to reach a spectrum reconciliation deal but cautioned that there has been no major breakthrough. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and congressional DOD supporters remain at loggerheads.
Satellite operators are “essentially flying blind” without an international protocol for sharing data about the location and position of objects in space and for planning maneuvers, said Kim Baum, Eutelsat/OneWeb vice president-spectrum engineering and strategy. Speaking at the Satellite 2025 show, she said there's a need for a universal directory of every satellite operator, including contact information, to deal with spectrum, as well as coordination of satellites possibly on collision courses. Multiple speakers mentioned the need for additional international coordination and agreement.
Senate Commerce Committee member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said Tuesday that he is pushing for his Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (S-674) to be part of an upcoming GOP-led budget reconciliation package. He and other lawmakers at Incompas' Policy Summit were divided along party lines over a push within the Commerce Department and Congress to revamp NTIA’s $42.5 billion BEAD program. Meanwhile, Moran appeared to lean in favor of repurposing some federally controlled spectrum even as he emphasized that lawmakers must “straddle” the interests of the wireless industry and U.S. military as they negotiate the matter as part of reconciliation (see 2502190068).
The Senate Commerce Committee was eyeing a March 13 confirmation hearing for NTIA nominee Arielle Roth and potentially also FCC nominee Olivia Trusty, but that panel wasn’t final as of Thursday afternoon, several communications sector officials and lobbyists told us. President Donald Trump nominated Roth, Senate Commerce Republicans’ telecom policy director, in early February (see 2502040056). Trump picked Trusty, a Senate Armed Services Committee Republican staffer, for the FCC seat that former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel vacated Jan. 20 (see 2501160077).
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota and other GOP leaders are optimistic, but not yet certain, that they have the votes on their side of the aisle to pass a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval (S.J.Res. 7) to undo the FCC's July 2024 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services. Chamber Democrats are vowing to fight S.J.Res. 7 if leaders bring up the measure for a vote, which lobbyists said could happen as soon as next week. Supporters and opponents of the E-rate expansion are eyeing a handful of Republicans they believe are reluctant to rescind the FCC’s order.
President Donald Trump urged lawmakers Tuesday night to “get rid” of the 2022 Chips and Science Act, which allocated $52 billion for domestic semiconductor manufacturing (see 2207280060). The law “is a horrible, horrible thing,” Trump said during his Tuesday night speech to a joint session of Congress. He asked House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to use “whatever’s left over” in unobligated Chips and Science Act funding “to reduce debt or any other reason you want to.” Trump was sharply critical of the statute during the 2024 presidential campaign, saying subsidies were a bad idea (see 2412090046). Johnson drew heat himself during the closing days of the campaign by first calling for Congress to repeal the Chips and Science Act and then quickly reversing course (see 2411040062).