Guthrie, Cruz Get Mixed Signals From Trump's Support for House Spectrum Reconciliation Plan
House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, offered positive but different interpretations of President Donald Trump’s apparent endorsement Tuesday (see 2505200058) of the spectrum language cleared in the lower chamber's One Big Beautiful Bill Act budget reconciliation package (HR-1). The two leaders were vague about whether Trump’s statement makes it more difficult for Cruz and other senators to press for potential changes to the spectrum proposal (see 2505130059). Meanwhile, the House Rules Committee was still debating Wednesday afternoon plans for bringing HR-1 to the floor.
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Guthrie told us he’s “glad [Trump] endorsed our” spectrum language, which includes a restoration of the FCC’s lapsed auction authority through Sept. 30, 2034, and requires the federal government to reallocate at least 600 MHz of bandwidth on “an exclusive, licensed basis” (see 2505120058). But “the ball is going to go into the Senate’s court” if the House passes HR-1, Guthrie said. “I've always said the Senate should do what the Senate can do with the bill, and then we'll have to come together” to reach a legislative compromise. Guthrie highlighted during House Rules’ meeting on HR-1 that the Congressional Budget Office scored the spectrum language at $88 billion.
Cruz told us he “strongly agree[s] with what” Trump said about needing to restore the FCC’s authority and a spectrum pipeline “that frees up at least 600 MHz with no exclusions. [Trump] was explicit that his view is we should not be taking bands off the table” as HR-1 currently does by carving out the 3.1-3.45 GHz and 5.9-7.1 (6) GHz bands from eligibility for reallocation. “I agree with [Trump] on that, and I hope the House and Senate both listen to [his] guidance,” Cruz said: “He speaks for the entire executive branch, including those departments that are arguing for exclusions. They all report to” Trump. House Commerce included the lower 3 GHz carve-out to get backing from DOD and the House Armed Services Committee. Top Senate Armed Services Committee Republicans argue that exclusion isn’t sufficient.
Cruz made no promises that he will pursue spectrum language otherwise identical to House Commerce’s proposal within Senate Commerce, despite Trump’s statement. “You will see our legislation when we file it,” Cruz said. Communications industry lobbyists told us Trump’s statement may temper Cruz’s zeal, but they still expect he will continue pursuing an airwaves pipeline closer to 1,250 MHz, the amount of bandwidth that NTIA would have to identify for auction under his 2024 Spectrum Pipeline Act. He has repeatedly touted the bill this year as his preferred basis for an airwaves title (see 2502190068).
Democratic Criticism
Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told reporters she still sides with Communications Subcommittee Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and other DOD supporters who think House Commerce’s lower 3 GHz carve-out doesn’t adequately protect military incumbents. “You can’t have” a 600 MHz pipeline and sufficiently wall off the lower 3 GHz band, Cantwell said. “I don’t get how the current draft protects [DOD and national security interests when] just last year, Republicans and Democrats were saying that" less-than-ironclad protections for lower 3 GHz interfered with national security and defense priorities. Cantwell later made similar comments in a statement.
Fischer cited ongoing military spectrum concerns Tuesday night in response to Trump’s announcement about moving forward on a proposed Golden Dome to protect the U.S. from missile attacks, similar to Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. “It’s important to note that as we look to fully realize the Golden Dome project, [DOD] must retain access to key portions of certain bands of spectrum or the project will not succeed,” she said.
House Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., criticized Guthrie and other Republicans during the Rules Committee meeting for proposing to auction “publicly owned spectrum [and using the proceeds] to give tax breaks to the rich rather than reinvesting that funding for the public good” into priorities like next-generation 911 tech upgrades and the FCC’s shuttered affordable connectivity program. “That’s a gross abuse of spectrum auction funds,” he said. House Rules was still considering a trio of amendments aimed at altering HR-1’s spectrum language, including one from Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., that would allocate 10% of spectrum auction proceeds from the 600 MHz pipeline to fund the connectivity program.
Washington Analysis’ Shawn Chang, a former House Communications Subcommittee senior Democratic counsel, said Tuesday that Trump’s endorsement means House Commerce’s spectrum language, including the 600 MHz pipeline and the lower 3 GHz and 6 GHz exclusions, “will likely remain largely intact.” Trump’s statement pushed “back against concerns raised by certain senators who are close allies of the Pentagon regarding the lack of protection for certain military frequencies,” particularly given that his comments followed soon after the Golden Dome announcement, Chang said in a note to investors.