Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier, both of California, led a letter Monday with 31 other House Democratic women urging President Joe Biden to name acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to the permanent spot. Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell of Washington and other Democratic lawmakers have been pressing Biden to move quickly to name a permanent FCC chair and fill a vacant seat to secure a 3-2 commission majority (see 2102050064). Rosenworcel “has spent years raising the important voices and unique needs of women that have been ignored for far too long in technology and telecommunications policy” and “is perfectly qualified” to be the first permanent chairwoman, Eshoo and the other lawmakers wrote White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. Some Congressional Black Caucus members back Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus wants a Latino commissioner (see 2102110043).

A judge with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas declined to allow the state of Texas to voluntarily drop a civil forfeiture lawsuit over goods seized by a local law enforcement group that aims to stop illegal exports. The state will continue litigation in a similar case in front of the same court. The federal government isn't a party in either case.

An order establishing rules for a 3.45-3.55 GHz auction appears to be one spectrum item moving under acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. She's reluctant to plow into other bands while acting chief, but 3.5 GHz is teed up, and timing is an issue, with an auction having to take place this year, said FCC and industry officials. The big question is whether the FCC will approve a model based on the adjacent citizens broadband radio service or a more traditional licensed model.

Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told the Disability Advisory Committee Thursday that communications for people with disabilities will be a priority for her. At the reconstituted DAC's first meeting, members said problems remain, a year into the pandemic.

The FCC approved 4-0 an NPRM proposing revised rules for a program to pay for the replacement of equipment from Huawei and ZTE in U.S. networks, as expected (see 2102110053), at the commissioners' meeting Wednesday. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stressed that even more than the previous administration, she's emphasizing coordination with other parts of the federal government in her approach to supply chain risks. Commissioner Brendan Carr said the U.S. must stay tough on China.

The FCC approved 4-0 an NPRM proposing revised rules for a program to pay for the replacement of equipment from Huawei and ZTE in U.S. networks, as expected (see 2102110053), at the commissioners' meeting Wednesday. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stressed that even more than the previous administration, she's emphasizing coordination with other parts of the federal government in her approach to supply chain risks. Commissioner Brendan Carr said the U.S. must stay tough on China.

Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the launch of a Broadband Data Task Force to push out the maps that will be needed for the 5G Fund, approved in October over partial dissents by Rosenworcel and fellow Democrat Geoffrey Starks (see 2010270034). Jean Kiddoo, who will chair the task force, warned the maps likely won’t be ready before next year. Rosenworcel declined to comment on the timeline in a news conference. The maps are also critical to other USF programs, officials said Wednesday.

The U.S. Court of International Trade plans to “proceed first” on choosing a “representative sample” of test cases to manage the roughly 3,500 Section 301 complaints inundating the court, said an order (in Pacer) signed Tuesday by the three-judge panel of Mark Barnett, Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves. All the suits seek to get the Lists 3 and 4A Chinese tariffs vacated and the duties refunded with interest. “The court expects that the number of sample cases identified will be small enough to permit the efficient disposition of this litigation while allowing the court to consider all claims raised by the various Plaintiffs,” said the order. “The court anticipates issuing a stay of all Section 301 cases assigned to the panel that are not selected to proceed as sample cases.” It set a March 19 deadline for plaintiff attorneys to submit a “coordinated proposal” on the test cases and to suggest lawyers to sit on a steering committee. Lawyers who think their complaint “would not be represented by a sample case proposal” or feel they belong on the steering committee have until March 26 to appeal, it said. Most court observers think the first-filed HMTX Industries/Jasco Products litigation is a shoo-in for one of the test cases. Virtually all the complaints argue the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative overstepped its Section 301 authority under the 1974 Trade Act by imposing retaliatory tariffs against the Chinese and that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act by running tariff rulemakings that lacked transparency. A few complaints make the additional argument that USTR acted unconstitutionally by taxing importers.

The U.S. Court of International Trade plans to “proceed first” on choosing a “representative sample” of test cases to manage the roughly 3,500 Section 301 complaints inundating the court, said an order (in Pacer) signed Tuesday by the three-judge panel of Mark Barnett, Claire Kelly and Jennifer Choe-Groves. All the suits seek to get the Lists 3 and 4A Chinese tariffs vacated and the duties refunded with interest. “The court expects that the number of sample cases identified will be small enough to permit the efficient disposition of this litigation while allowing the court to consider all claims raised by the various Plaintiffs,” said the order. “The court anticipates issuing a stay of all Section 301 cases assigned to the panel that are not selected to proceed as sample cases.” It set a March 19 deadline for plaintiff attorneys to submit a “coordinated proposal” on the test cases and to suggest lawyers to sit on a steering committee. Lawyers who think their complaint “would not be represented by a sample case proposal” or feel they belong on the steering committee have until March 26 to appeal, it said. Most court observers think the first-filed HMTX Industries/Jasco Products litigation is a shoo-in for one of the test cases. Virtually all the complaints argue the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative overstepped its Section 301 authority under the 1974 Trade Act by imposing retaliatory tariffs against the Chinese and that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act by running tariff rulemakings that lacked transparency. A few complaints make the additional argument that USTR acted unconstitutionally by taxing importers.

In his first speech since joining the FCC, Commissioner Nathan Simington told the Free State Foundation via teleconference that he opposes Communications Act Title II net neutrality regulation, indicated he still supports government action to curb non-ISP “gatekeepers,” and seemed optimistic about his ability to influence agency policy while in the minority. "Even commission decisions that don’t command a consensus are formed organically by conversations within the FCC,” Simington said. “The vast majority of decisions are bipartisan.”