Jimm Phillips

Hill conferees’ version of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act retains some modified language from separate House- and Senate-passed versions of the measure (HR-6395/S-4049) aimed at hindering Ligado’s L-band plan rollout, as expected (see 2011230063). Ligado’s supporters and opponents aren’t completely satisfied with the language, though both sides spun it as a relative win. Some also believe it’s unlikely the FCC will act soon on the Ligado approval petitions for reconsideration pending before it (see 2005210043). The FCC didn't comment.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., filed for cloture Thursday on FCC nominee Nathan Simington. Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota and other GOP leaders have been eyeing a floor vote on Simington as soon as next week, after the Senate Commerce Committee voted 14-12 Wednesday to advance the nominee (see 2012020069). A mid-week floor vote appears likely given McConnell’s decision to file cloture Thursday, lobbyists told us. Senate Commerce member Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Charter praised the move to advance Simington, while Free Press and New America’s Open Technology Institute criticized it.

An omnibus FY 2021 appropriations measure under negotiation is likely to include funding for the FCC to implement the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act (S-1822), said House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Thursday. He told a USTelecom webinar that he believes movement on infrastructure legislation like the House-passed Moving Forward Act (HR-2) is “not going to happen” during the waning days of the lame-duck session, but “hopefully we can get it passed” and enacted after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Many advocates of federal broadband spending are optimistic a Biden administration will be able to reach a deal with Congress on infrastructure legislation (see 2011200056).

Senate Republican leaders are eyeing a floor vote as soon as next week to confirm FCC nominee Nathan Simington, setting up what’s likely to be a partisan showdown over the prospect of a 2-2 commission deadlock at the start of President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration. The Commerce Committee advanced Simington Wednesday, as expected (see 2012010064), on a 14-12 party-line vote. Senate Democrats are already watching the potential implications for Biden’s pick for the party’s third FCC seat, when Chairman Ajit Pai leaves Jan. 20 (see 2011300032).

The House Republican Steering Committee named Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington as their pick Wednesday to succeed Greg Walden of Oregon as Commerce Committee ranker. The House GOP caucus must vote to affirm. McMorris Rodgers was seen as the favorite over Health Subcommittee ranker Michael Burgess of Texas and Communications Subcommittee ranker Bob Latta of Ohio. All indicated they likely would hew to Walden’s approach to telecom policymaking (see 2011180028). “We are in a battle for the heart and soul of America,” and House Commerce “is at the very center of the battles for freedom to beat socialism and hope to beat fear,” McMorris Rodgers said. “My goal is to maximize” the committee “to secure America’s and Eastern Washington’s future as the best place in the world.” House Commerce “has a rich history of working in a bipartisan fashion, and I know Cathy will continue that tradition,” Latta said. “I am also confident that she will stand strong and push back against the Democrats’ progressive agenda when bipartisan solutions are not possible.” The committee “will continue its legacy of putting forward bipartisan solutions,” Burgess said in a statement. The selection “is a historic moment” because McMorris Rodgers will be the first woman to lead Commerce's Republican contingent, Walden said. “As Republicans fight to take back the” majority in the 2022 election, “Cathy is uniquely qualified.” McMorris Rodgers “has long been a leader who recognizes the significant benefits of today’s vibrant and competitive media and communications marketplace that facilitates ongoing investment and innovation,” said NCTA CEO Michael Powell.

The Senate Commerce Committee appeared on track before its Wednesday meeting to advance FCC nominee Nathan Simington’s confirmation to the full chamber. That's despite continued uncertainty about whether panel member Dan Sullivan of Alaska will join other Republicans in backing the nominee. Opponents of Simington’s confirmation claim President Donald Trump picked him to displace Commissioner Mike O’Rielly because the nominee supports the push for a rulemaking on its Communications Decency Act Section 230 interpretation (see 2011100070).

President-elect Joe Biden urged Congress to pass a “robust” COVID-19 aid bill during the lame-duck session, amid a renewed push for such legislation to include broadband funding. Nine senators and House Problem Solvers Caucus leaders unveiled the broad outlines for a $908 billion legislative proposal that lobbyists told us includes $10 billion for broadband programs. Talks on new pandemic aid legislation have repeatedly stalled, though telecom officials have remained hopeful a deal will come together that includes connectivity money (see 2011120047). The House has passed two iterations of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (Heroes) Act that include broadband money (see 2009290044). Biden said a COVID-19 bill passed by Congress during the lame duck would be “at best just a start,” and his team is working on a follow-up legislative proposal “to address the multiple crises we’re facing,” which he will propose once he takes office Jan. 20. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told reporters a final version of the recommendations he and other lawmakers teased Tuesday will be filed “very soon.” The lawmakers haven’t “had assurances” from House and Senate leaders for floor votes, “but I think the American people will put the pressure” on them, Manchin said. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters he appreciates “there is some bipartisan support” for the plan from Manchin and others, downplaying the degree to which it would come up in phone call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that was set for Tuesday afternoon.

The FCC and FTC have begun working with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition review teams, the agencies confirmed. The moves, weeks after news agencies declared that Biden defeated President Donald Trump, follow General Services Administration head Emily Murphy’s Monday decision to allow federal agencies to begin the transition process. The FCC and Biden’s review team for the commission “have made contact,” and the commission “will fully cooperate in the transition process,” a spokesperson emailed. Michael Carowitz, special counsel to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, is “running point on the transition for the Chairman’s Office." Carowitz was previously acting Enforcement Bureau chief and Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau deputy chief. Biden’s FCC team members are House Judiciary Committee Senior Counselor John Williams; former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn; DLA Piper’s Smitty Smith, a former FCC and NTIA staffer; and Paul de Sa, former FCC official and analyst (see 2011160020). FTC Chairman Joe Simons also “instructed Commissioners and staff that the transition is underway,” a spokesperson emailed. It “provides us an opportunity to show both the great work the FTC has done in the past, as well as the FTC’s commitment to continuing that work in the future.” FTC Executive Director David Robbins and Deputy Monique Fortenberry are the commission’s point people working with the Biden team. Biden’s FTC team members are former commission Deputy General Counsel Heather Hippsley, Brookings Institution’s Bill Baer and Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology Associate Director Laura Moy (see 2011100061).

The FCC Public Safety Bureau denied ZTE’s petition for reconsideration of the bureau’s June 30 order designating the Chinese telecom equipment maker as a threat to U.S. national security. The order, which also covers Huawei, bars both companies from participating in the USF (see 2007160051). Huawei also sought reversal (see 2007310048). The FCC denied ZTE’s argument that the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act and the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act (HR-4998) limit “authority to implement a prohibition on USF support for ZTE equipment. ZTE has previously raised this argument and we find no grounds on which to reconsider it here.” The company “does not dispute critical facts underlying” the ban, “and those uncontroverted facts, standing alone, are enough to sustain” it, the bureau said. It reviewed “the totality of the evidence, which included legal and political analysis from Congress and the Executive Branch, Chinese law experts, as well as evidence of security threats provided by allied intelligence services and outside cybersecurity experts.” The bureau “determined that either directly [through] the application of the Chinese National Intelligence Law, or indirectly through the application of political pressure, Chinese companies like ZTE are required to cooperate with intelligence agencies by providing customer information and network traffic information.” It said ZTE “has substantial ties to the Chinese government and its military” apparatus. “We continue to find that vulnerabilities and cybersecurity risks plague ZTE equipment,” the bureau said. It “also took into account ZTE’s record of knowingly violating U.S. law, obstructing U.S. investigations, and making false statements to U.S. authorities even after entering a guilty plea for violating U.S. trade sanctions.” The gearmaker didn’t comment. The denial is “another important step in our ongoing efforts to protect U.S. communications networks from security risks,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. He noted plans for commissioners to vote Dec. 10 on rules (see 2011190059) to help U.S. telecom companies replace suspect network equipment proposed in HR-4998. “Now it is more vital than ever that Congress appropriate funds so that our communications networks are protected from vendors that threaten our national security,” Pai said. Lawmakers are pushing to allocate $1.6 billion-$1.8 billion (see 2009140062).

The Senate Commerce Committee plans to vote Dec. 2 on advancing confirmation of FCC nominee Nathan Simington to the full chamber, as expected (see 2011180064). The committee’s meeting, which will also consider Assistant Secretary of Commerce nominee Daniel Huff and NASA Chief Financial Officer nominee Greg Autry, begins at 10 a.m. in 325 Russell. Simington’s responses to senators’ written questions to follow up on his confirmation hearing earlier this month are supposed to be due Dec. 8 (see 2011100070), nearly a week after the scheduled vote. Also Tuesday, Senate Commerce member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., tweeted that Simington “must explain himself immediately” after media reports about emails that indicate he played a far larger role than claimed in shaping NTIA’s petition to the commission seeking a rulemaking on its interpretation of Communications Decency Act Section 230 (see 2007270070). Simington in June sought to pitch Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on pushing the FCC to grant NTIA’s petition. Now-acting NTIA Administrator Adam Candeub described Simington and Carolyn Roddy, both NTIA senior advisers, as being “instrumental in drafting” the petition. President Donald Trump’s administration at one point considered naming Roddy to the FCC seat currently held by Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, before naming Simington (see 2008130056). The emails show Simington was “an active and eager soldier in” Trump’s “attempted assault on the First Amendment” via the bid for FCC intervention on Section 230, Blumenthal said. Simington “was willing to bully the very agency he’s been nominated to join in order to do the electoral bidding of the Republican party on the taxpayer dime.” Blumenthal, who already threatened to place a hold on Simington if Senate Commerce advances his confirmation, wants the nominee to “explain himself" in his responses to follow-up questions. “I certainly hope” Simington “will be more forthcoming in his written responses than he was during” that hearing, Blumenthal said. Simington said during that panel that he played a “minor role” in work on NTIA’s Section 230 petition and wouldn’t commit to recusing himself from the FCC proceeding. Simington, NTIA and the White House didn’t comment now. Concerns about FCC independence amid the nomination “are real and important,” Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Legislative Counsel Ernesto Falcon said Monday: The Senate “should not confirm” Simington “without asking some crucial questions about whether and how he will help ensure that the FCC does the public interest job.”