The FCC and DOJ last week asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear en banc an order that tossed the FCC's $57 million fine imposed on AT&T because the agency's in-house adjudication was unconstitutional (see 2504180001). The 5th Circuit is widely viewed as the most right-leaning of the circuits and is a favored location by industry for challenging federal regulation.
Despite pressure from tribal and public interest groups, the FCC appears unlikely to change rules for the AWS-3 auction to allow a tribal window, industry officials and observers said Friday. With Olivia Trusty, a second Republican, joining the commission, Chairman Brendan Carr probably has the votes to approve auction rules regardless of opposition from Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez, officials said. The agency is scheduled to vote on the order Thursday.
An FCC draft order on the July 24 open meeting agenda that would give the bureaus authority to delete FCC rules without seeking notice and comment is drawing warnings from public interest groups, but communications industry officials told us they aren’t concerned. The agency has also recently skipped notice and comment while shifting the language of existing rules.
The FCC posted on Thursday the drafts for all the items teed up for votes at the commission’s Aug. 7 open meeting. Most have a deregulatory bent.
Representatives of public interest and tribal groups met with an aide to FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty to ask that the FCC change course and create a tribal window prior to the AWS-3 reauction (see 2507140042). Commissioners are to vote July 24 on auction rules (see 2507030049). Attending the meeting were representatives of Public Knowledge, X-Lab, the Navajo Nation and the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday unveiled a full agenda for the Aug. 7 open meeting, leading off with proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Also included are draft orders that Carr said were aimed at streamlining submarine cable licensing and satellite and earth station licensing. As will be true for the July meeting, cutting regulation will be a priority in August (see 2507030049).
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month upholding the USF in the Consumers’ Research case was a win for the FCC (see 2507020049), but the fight isn’t over, Jacob Lewis, FCC associate general counsel, said during an FCBA CLE on Tuesday. Lewis warned that Consumers’ Research has already renewed its challenge in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, making a different argument for overturning parts of the fund.
Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler slammed current Chairman Brendan Carr’s handling of the Skydance/Paramount deal in an op-ed piece published Saturday by The Guardian. Wheeler said he expects the FCC to cease “slow-walking” the deal after CBS agreed last week to a $16 million settlement in President Donald Trump’s personal lawsuit against the network (see 2507020053). By holding up the deal over a news distortion complaint against CBS, Carr exceeded the FCC’s traditional authority, Wheeler said, adding that the chairman “has not been shy” about using FCC authority to achieve political goals. “It is time to unfurl the ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner at the Federal Communications Commission,” Wheeler wrote. “What was once an independent, policy-based agency has been transformed into a performance-based agency, using any leverage it can discover or invent to further the Trump Maga message.”
The FCC on Thursday released draft items scheduled for votes at its July 24 open meeting, the second with a Republican majority in this Trump administration. Chairman Brendan Carr sketched out details of the meeting in a wide-ranging speech Wednesday (see 2507020036). The main focus will be cutting regulations and streamlining copper retirements and the pole attachment process. Among other items, the FCC would decline to adopt a tribal priority window prior to the AWS-3 reauction. Another draft order requires text providers to support a text-to-988 georouting requirement.
House action on the Senate-cleared version of the HR-1 budget reconciliation package, previously known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, appeared in doubt Wednesday afternoon amid resistance from several GOP lawmakers. Critics of Senate Commerce Committee Republicans’ HR-1 spectrum language held out hope amid the ruckus that lawmakers would make additional bands ineligible for potential reallocation. The Senate narrowly passed its HR-1 language Tuesday (see 2507010070).