The Benefit of the Bargain (BoB) version of BEAD is shaping up to be "a tremendous success," with state plans to date coming in $15 billion under what they were allocated, NTIA head Arielle Roth said Monday. Speaking at SCTE's TechExpo event in Washington, Roth said NTIA is also pressing states in some cases to submit cheaper final proposals.
House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and other Hill Democratic leaders castigated FCC Chairman Brendan Carr during what amounted to a one-party bicameral hearing Monday for his mid-September comments against ABC and parent Disney widely perceived as influencing the network’s since-reversed decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air (see 2509180066). Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast stopped preempting Kimmel Friday night, as expected (see 2509260054). The Senate Commerce Committee is eyeing potential dates soon for an FCC oversight hearing that ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and other Democrats have been requesting to confront Carr (see 2509220059), lobbyists told us.
FCC items reversing its off-premises hot spot and school bus Wi-Fi programs, which were approved during the Biden administration, are expected to be approved 2-1 Tuesday, with a dissent from Commissioner Anna Gomez, agency and industry officials told us. Officials active in the proceeding warned that for the school bus program in particular, it’s unclear what will happen to projects already funded under the E-rate program.
Current lobbyists and former House Commerce Committee chairmen Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said Wednesday that lawmakers “must again ask tough questions [about] whether FirstNet is fully achieving the goals we put into law in 2012” as Congress eyes reauthorizing it before the existing mandate expires in February 2027. The House Communications Subcommittee examined FirstNet and other public safety communications matters during a hearing earlier this month (see 2509090062).
Upcoming FCC action to undo its July 2024 order allowing E-rate recipients to use funding for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots is a clear sign that House leaders have lost interest in advancing a Senate-passed Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval (S.J.Res. 7) against that order, supporters and opponents told us. The FCC is likely to approve next week two proposals to cancel both the off-premises hot spot order and another to fund Wi-Fi on school buses (see 2509030064). The House Commerce Committee's Republican leaders still haven't taken a position on S.J.Res. 7, which the Senate passed more than four months ago. Supporters argue that moving the CRA measure would prevent a future majority-Democratic FCC from resurrecting the Wi-Fi rules for schools and libraries in their current form.
President Donald Trump threatened ABC again Tuesday, the same night that host Jimmy Kimmel returned to the airwaves in most markets and two days after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr denied attempting to intimidate the network. “I think we’re going to test ABC out on this,” Trump said in a post Tuesday night on Truth Social. “Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative.” Trump has threatened ABC and other networks repeatedly for years (see 2410100050).
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, chastised FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Friday for comments earlier in the week against ABC and parent Disney, which were widely perceived as bringing about the network’s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air indefinitely (see 2509180066). Carr threatened ABC in a podcast interview, saying the network should discipline Kimmel for comments about the Make America Great Again movement's reaction to the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk (see 2509170064) or face FCC action.
Consumer Technology Association CEO Gary Shapiro said Thursday that he opposes a House Commerce Committee-cleared version of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-979) despite revisions aimed at curbing opposition from the automotive industry (see 2509170068). HR-979 and its companion, S-315 -- which the Senate Commerce Committee advanced previously -- would require the Department of Transportation to mandate that future automobiles include AM radio technology, mostly affecting electric vehicles (see 2502100072).
House Communications Subcommittee members traded partisan barbs during a Thursday hearing over a largely GOP-initiated set of broadband permitting bills (see 2509120072) that Democrats claim won’t be effective in speeding up connectivity buildout. Republicans filed many of the 29 bills in past Congresses, including several they previously combined into the controversial American Broadband Deployment Act (see 2305240069). Subpanel Democrats also punctuated the hearing with criticism of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for threats against ABC and parent company Disney that resulted in the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! (see 2509180055).
Congressional Democrats swiftly decried FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday night and Thursday for what they see as his central role in pressuring ABC and parent Disney before the network, Nexstar and Sinclair pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air indefinitely Wednesday night (see 2509180066). Carr threatened ABC in a podcast interview, saying it should discipline Kimmel for comments about the political affiliation of the suspected killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk (see 2509170064) or face FCC action.