The Senate Commerce Committee advanced the nomination of Eric Lander to be Office of Science and Technology Policy director to the floor Thursday (see 2105140049). Five Republicans voted no: Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Ted Cruz of Texas; Mike Lee of Utah; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.

The Senate Commerce Committee advanced the nomination of Eric Lander to be Office of Science and Technology Policy director to the floor Thursday (see 2105140049). Five Republicans voted no: Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Ted Cruz of Texas; Mike Lee of Utah; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.

Texas legislators' attempt to stabilize state USF is nearing the finish. The Senate Rural Affairs Committee voted 8-0 Tuesday for HB-2667 to expand the TUSF contribution base to include VoIP providers, while redefining high-cost areas. RLECs had sued the Public Utility Commission for not acting to prevent insolvency (see 2103290060).

Walmart is continuing its focus on serving customers better by “diversifying the model,” said CEO Doug McMillon on the company’s Q1 earnings call Tuesday. Store remodels, investments in pickup and delivery capacity and sales of Walmart+ memberships led growth initiatives. “We need more capacity to get ahead of demand,” he said.

The preliminary injunction the Section 301 plaintiffs seek to freeze liquidations of unliquidated customs entries from China with Lists 3 and 4A tariff exposure (see 2104230059) is “unwarranted,” falls short of the high legal "bar" required and if granted, “would impose an enormous administrative burden” on Customs and Border Protection when the agency is already stretched thin, argued DOJ’s opposition (in Pacer) Friday at the U.S. Court of International Trade. Importers filed for the injunction April 23 after DOJ refused to stipulate it would support refunds of liquidated entries if the plaintiffs won the litigation and the tariffs were declared unlawful.

The preliminary injunction that the Section 301 plaintiffs seek to freeze liquidations of unliquidated customs entries from China with lists 3 and 4A tariff exposure (see 2104260010) is “unwarranted,” falls short of the high legal "bar" required and “would impose an enormous administrative burden” on CBP when the agency’s resources already are stretched thin, DOJ’s May 14 opposition argued at the Court of International Trade. Importers filed for the injunction April 23 after DOJ wouldn't stipulate it would support refunds of liquidated entries if the plaintiffs won the litigation and the tariffs were ruled unlawful.

Congressional aides and FCC officials emphasized appetite for bipartisan telecom cooperation, at a Friday FCBA event. Aides to the House and Senate Commerce committees noted lawmakers' work to reach a compromise on infrastructure spending including broadband. FCC members’ chiefs of staff said commissioners learned to work together amid the 2-2 split.

Maine’s attorney general is “very comfortable” defending a bill calling IPTV operators utilities and raising minimum franchise fees, but that’s no guarantee the state would win, Chief Deputy AG Christopher Taub told the Maine Joint Energy, Utilities and Technologies Committee at a work session streamed Thursday. The committee voted 7-4 to temporarily table the bill and consider it later. Industry opponents say the plan (LD-920) would violate the federal Cable Act, an argument they made against three previous Maine cable laws in cases that went to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "This is definitely a defensible bill," but "there's certainly a possibility that a court would find that either some or all of this bill would be preempted,” said Taub. Such cases are “extremely complicated” and it’s “very difficult to predict on any given issue how it's going to come out,” he warned. Two issues are “thorny,” said Taub: Opponents might argue a proposed regulatory surcharge is an “end run around” the federal 5% cap on franchise fees because the bill also sets 5% as the floor for Maine franchise fees, he said. They might say the Cable Act prevents treating companies as utilities, but Maine could argue that -- other than calling them utilities and applying a regulatory surcharge -- the state wouldn’t be regulating them as utilities, said Taub. A skeptical State Sen. Trey Stewart (R) responded, “If it quacks like a duck.”

The Jones Act -- which requires all goods transported by water between U.S. ports to be carried on vessels made in and crewed by U.S. citizens, under U.S. ownership -- raises costs for Hawaiian, Alaskan and Puerto Rican consumers, its critics say, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., have reintroduced a repeal. The bill, announced May 14, also was introduced during the previous Congress and did not get a hearing.

The 5-0 November order splitting the 5.9 GHz band between Wi-Fi and auto safety (see 2011180043) will be “the first real test” for the current FCC, Commissioner Brendan Carr said during an Internet Innovation Alliance webinar Thursday. Carr noted concerns raised by the auto industry and some congressional Democrats (see 2104270090). “Do we stick with the hard decision, the right decision, only hard in the sense that there was political pressure, … or are we going to cave to political pressure” on 5.9, he asked. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stresses her focus on working with other federal agencies on spectrum, Carr said, saying cooperation isn’t enough: “At the end of the day, those of us in leadership at the FCC are called upon to make hard decisions and stick by them.” The FCC didn't comment. Carr said he’s standing his ground on the 3-2 order making broad changes to how the 4.9 GHz band is regulated, giving control to the states. Rosenworcel recently sought a stay (see 2105030062). Carr hasn’t made decisions on 5G in the 12 GHz band, saying he's watching engineering studies. “If we can get a win-win and do all of it, then obviously that’s what we should do,” he said. Carr said the FCC needs to provide more clarity on broadband maps, after Rosenworcel said in March the first would be available this summer (see 2103220050). “We’ve got to clean that up and provide some clarity as to when we’re going to land the mapping process,” he said. The FCC has about $40 billion “sitting in the pipeline” for broadband deployment, he said. “Let’s get that $40 billion out the door,” he said: “Mapping is going to be a big piece.” Carr is a “little worried” about the current pace on making more spectrum available. The U.S. was in danger of falling behind in the race to lead the world on 5G during the last years of the Barack Obama administration, Carr said. That changed under Donald Trump, he said. “We were first to commercial 5G and have the strongest 5G network in the world,” he said. Carr said he hopes that FCC won’t backtrack on the changes to wireless infrastructure rules made under then-Chairman Ajit Pai. The current 2-2 FCC won’t “reverse those wins,” he said. “We’ve made it easier to build and connect people over the four last years,” he said: “I really don’t know why we would make it more expensive and harder.” Short of being in the majority, being at a split commission is “second best,” he joked. “We’ll see what it’s like when I make my eventual move fully into the minority.” There are still lots of discussions between commissioners on various issues, he said.