FCC General Counsel Brendan Carr's nomination to the commission's vacant GOP seat poses as many questions as it answers about the path forward for his confirmation process and those of Democratic FCC nominee Jessica Rosenworcel and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who requires a vote on his own renomination, industry lobbyists told us. President Donald Trump formally sent Carr's nomination to the Senate at our deadline Thursday. The White House said Wednesday Trump would nominate Carr to both the remainder of the vacant seat's current term, which ends June 13, 2018, and an additional five-year term that expires in June 2023 (see 1706280068). Industry observers told us the Carr and Rosenworcel nominations could signal an imminent period of relative stability at the FCC (see 1706290065).
Jimm Phillips
Jimm Phillips, Associate Editor, covers telecommunications policymaking in Congress for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications News in 2012 after stints at the Washington Post and the American Independent News Network. Phillips is a Maryland native who graduated from American University. You can follow him on Twitter: @JLPhillipsDC
House Commerce Committee lawmakers remained at loggerheads before the July 4 recess in negotiations over the Balancing the Rights of Web Surfers Equally and Responsibly (Browser) Act. HR-2520, filed by House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., would make the FTC the privacy regulator for ISPs and edge companies and would require opt-in consent even for web browsing data (see 1705190053). Blackburn and other House Commerce Republicans indicated they're continuing to meet with stakeholders and gathering feedback. Committee Democrats indicated they're all but dead set against the bill.
The Senate Commerce Committee's move to temporarily delay a vote on NTIA administrator nominee David Redl at a senator's request drew a mixed reaction Wednesday among industry lobbyists. A Senate Commerce spokesman didn't identify the senator who sought the delay but informed sources said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked for it over his ongoing concerns about implications of the now-completed Internet Assigned Numbers Authority oversight transition (see 1706280027). Senate Commerce is aiming to place Redl's confirmation on the docket at the committee's next scheduled markup session after its planned Thursday meeting, the spokesman said. The aide said the senator didn't place a full-blown hold on Redl's nomination but was seeking “additional time to review information” before a vote. Cruz focused on those concerns during Redl's confirmation hearing earlier this month, asking whether Redl believes the oversight handoff was a “wise and prudent decision” (see 1706080046). Cruz was the most vocal Senate critic of NTIA's decision last year to move forward with the transition process, but it's “strange” that he would seek a delay on Redl given that President Donald Trump's administration indicated it sees no feasible way to rescind the transfer now, said one communications lobbyist. Another lobbyist said it was at least “good news” that Cruz agreed to a delay of the vote on Redl rather than placing a hold on it. Redl faced multiple IANA transition-related questions post-hearing from Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., but none specifically from Cruz. Cruz's office didn't comment.
The Senate Commerce Committee is delaying a vote on NTIA administrator nominee David Redl at a senator's request, aiming to place it on the docket at the committee's next scheduled markup session after its planned Thursday meeting, a committee spokesman said. He said the senator didn't place a full-blown hold on Redl's nomination, instead seeking “additional time to review information.” Informed sources said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, sought the delay over his ongoing concerns about implications of the now-completed Internet Assigned Numbers Authority oversight transition.
The House Appropriations Commerce and Financial Services subcommittees plan separate Thursday markups of their budget bills. Financial Services' budget will include funding for the FCC and FTC, while Commerce's will include funding for the Department of Commerce and NTIA. Neither subcommittee released a draft of its bills by our deadline Tuesday. President Donald Trump's administration proposed to cut the FCC budget $18 million, to $322 million. The FTC is requesting $306 million, and NTIA is seeking $36 million (see 1705230041). House Financial Services will mark up its budget despite not holding hearings for either the FCC or FTC budget requests. The Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee's hearing last week with the FCC commissioners became a de facto oversight hearing on commission Chairman Ajit Pai's first months at the helm (see 1706200082). House Financial Services Chairman Tom Graves, R-Ga., told us he already met privately with Pai about the FCC's budget request. The markup will begin at 3 p.m. in 2358-A Rayburn. House Appropriations Commerce scheduled its markup at 2 p.m. in H-140 the Capitol.
FCC General Counsel Brendan Carr got the long-awaited nod to be the third GOP member of the commission, if the Senate confirms him. The White House said tonight that President Donald Trump intends to nominate Carr to the vacant GOP commissioner seat, as expected (see our May 26 report).
At least two draft wireless spectrum bills are under development on Capitol Hill, though a bill led by House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., appears to be closer to a formal introduction, said wireless industry lobbyists in interviews. Doyle is looking to file his bill this week, while staffers for Sens. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., are meeting with stakeholders to revise their draft bill, lobbyists said. A Senate aide confirmed Gardner and Hassan were partnering, given Hassan’s burgeoning interest on telecom issues.
President Donald Trump's pledge to include a broadband title in his administration's forthcoming infrastructure legislative proposal shaped Thursday's House Small Business Agriculture, Energy and Trade Subcommittee hearing on rural broadband deployment. Executives testified that a broadband title in infrastructure legislation should work within the framework of existing federal broadband funding programs and aim to expand funding to those programs instead of seeking to create entirely new programs.
A Thursday White House Office of Science and Technology Policy-led meeting with tech representatives covered a range of policy issues on emerging technologies, including concurrent sessions on the role of 5G wireless infrastructure in IoT development, drone regulation and tech startup financing. The meeting was part of a White House “Tech Week” that included a Monday American Technology Council meeting (see 1706190062).
Al Franken, D-Minn., and 10 other senators urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions Wednesday to reject AT&T's buy of Time Warner, saying it would result in far too much media consolidation and would hurt consumers. “While we cannot possibly predict all the harms that could arise from this deal, we maintain that AT&T's proposed acquisition of Time Warner would result in higher prices, fewer choices, and worse service for consumers,” the senators wrote Sessions. “We hope you'll take a stand for U.S. consumers and businesses and closely scrutinize the transaction. Should you determine that the substantial harms arising from the transaction outweigh the purported benefits, we urge you to reject it.” The letter follows a Franken-led push in January for AT&T to adopt a “public interest statement” on TW amid concerns that the FCC wouldn't review the takeover (see 1701250076). Nine of the senators who signed onto Franken's letter to Sessions -- Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Ed Markey, D-Mass.; Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; and Ron Wyden, D-Ore. -- also had pressed for the AT&T public interest statement. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., signed the Sessions letter but had not joined the earlier statement request. The person who sent us a draft of Franken's letter Wednesday ahead of its release noted Franken was trying to get all of the senators who had signed on to the AT&T letter to push Sessions to reject the TW deal. Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill. and Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., had supported the AT&T statement but didn't sign the Sessions letter. AT&T has “addressed all of the issues raised by this letter in AT&T’s and Time Warner’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee” last year, its February response to the public interest statement request and in the course of DOJ's review, a spokesman said. “We’ve highlighted how our merger is about giving consumers more choices, not less.” AT&T “also detailed how the transaction will expand distribution and creative opportunities for diverse and independent voices,” the spokesman said.