Jimm Phillips

The FCC won’t have a finalized estimate of demands for money from the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to repay U.S. carriers for removing from their networks equipment made by companies deemed a national security risk ready by June 15 as initially anticipated, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in letters to Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and other leaders of the House and Senate Commerce and Appropriations committees released Wednesday. Cantwell, Wicker and other lawmakers have been eyeing whether and how much additional funding they will seek to appropriate to the “rip and replace” program beyond the $1.9 billion Congress allocated to the program via the FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid omnibus law (see 2203140061).

The Senate’s continued stall in considering FCC nominee Gigi Sohn is prompting some of her supporters to eye ways to break the logjam, including pressing chamber leaders to seek an initial discharge vote to bring her to the floor even if Democratic senators who remain publicly undecided on her candidacy (see 2205050050) don’t commit to a position beforehand. Some supporters believe it’s worth the risk such a vote would fail given chatter about Sohn or the White House withdrawing her nomination, though top Senate Democratic backers believe it’s unlikely the White House would take such an action. Observers also see a White House recess appointment of Sohn as an increasingly feasible route to at least temporarily set up a Democratic FCC majority given the commission’s year-plus 2-2 deadlock.

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J.; and panel ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., floated a discussion draft Friday of the American Data Privacy and Protection Act in a bid to advance compromise tech-focused privacy legislation before the end of this Congress. The proposal’s chances of advancing before the end of the year could be hampered by a rapidly closing legislative window and a lack of buy-in from Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., lobbyists and officials told us.

Two top Senate Communications Subcommittee members told us they intend to focus on NTIA’s rollout of $48 billion in connectivity money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act during the subpanel’s upcoming NTIA oversight hearing. Senate Communications Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., indicated interest in talking about NTIA’s recent notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program (see 2205130054).

The Senate Commerce Committee is eyeing an NTIA oversight hearing with Administrator Alan Davidson the first full week of June, panel Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said in an interview. The Communications Subcommittee may handle the hearing instead of the full panel, Cantwell said. The hearing is expected to happen June 8 or 9, lobbyists said. Davidson previously testified at a February House Communications Subcommittee NTIA oversight hearing (see 2202160064).

The Senate Commerce Committee pulled the Improving Spectrum Coordination Act (S-1472) Tuesday night from the agenda for a Wednesday executive session amid objections to some proposed amendments to the measure, lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews. S-1472 would require the FCC and NTIA to update their spectrum memorandum of understanding, including to add language on a process for addressing interagency policy differences and instituting a resolution process. Senate Commerce leaders said they hope further revisions won’t significantly delay bringing the bill up again.

House Communications Subcommittee members voiced strong support during a Tuesday hearing for the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act (HR-7783) and two NTIA-focused spectrum bills, echoing expected backing from Wiley’s Anna Gomez and CommScope Business Development and Spectrum Policy Director Mark Gibson (see 2205230061). Lawmakers broadly supported elements of the Safe Connections Act (HR-7132), but opinions on the Ensuring Phone and Internet Access for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients Act (HR-4275) divided along party lines.

Wiley’s Anna Gomez, former acting NTIA administrator, backed the Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act (HR-7783) and two NTIA-focused spectrum bills in written testimony ahead of a Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing (see 2205170081). HR-7783 is one of five wireless-focused bills House Communications will examine during the Tuesday hearing. The others are: the Ensuring Phone and Internet Access for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients Act (HR-4275), the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act (HR-4990), the Simplifying Management, Reallocation and Transfer of Spectrum Act (HR-5486), and the Safe Connections Act (HR-7132). The partly virtual hearing will begin at 11 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

House Communications Subcommittee leaders appear set on advancing the recently filed Extending America’s Spectrum Auction Leadership Act (HR-7783) as their preference for renewing the FCC’s auction authority, before a planned Tuesday hearing (see 2205170081), but there’s more uncertainty about whether they will be willing to attach related measures before it heads to the floor. Senate Commerce Committee leaders are tentative about HR-7783’s proposal to extend the FCC’s auction authority for 18 months to March 31, 2024, and some policy stakeholders told us they outright oppose such a short extension. The FCC's current auction authority expires Sept. 30.

The House Commerce Committee unanimously advanced an amended version of the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act (HR-7666) that would allocate $10 million annually for fiscal years 2023-2027 to the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a national maternal mental health hotline to provide “voice and text support.” Rep. Tony Cardenas, D-Calif., used discussion on the measure to again highlight his view that Congress needs to solidify funding for the impending 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline rollout.