The Senate Commerce Committee is gearing up to move quickly on FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks, including a likely June 20 confirmation hearing, communications lobbyists and Capitol Hill officials told us. The committee is eyeing a fast process for Starks, as expected (see 1804060049), in hope of also confirming Commissioner Brendan Carr to a full five-year term. President Donald Trump nominated Starks, Enforcement Bureau assistant chief, this month to succeed now-former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn for a term ending June 30, 2022 (see 1806010072).
Telecom-focused lawmaker reactions to Monday's effective date of the FCC order rescinding 2015 net neutrality rules largely reflected longstanding positions. And rescission supporters compared opponents’ reaction to the panic in 1999 over Y2K.
Capitol Hill moved forward on legislation aimed at limiting President Donald Trump's ability to lift or otherwise weaken a Department of Commerce-imposed seven-year ban on U.S. companies selling telecom software and equipment to ZTE, despite the department's announcement earlier Thursday it had reached a deal on an alternative punishment. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other lawmakers blasted the deal or viewed it with skepticism, while other insisted they would need to hear more from the White House. Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security announced the seven-year ban in April (see 1804170018). Trump faced criticism and threats of legislative action since he first explored lifting the ban last month (see 1805140062, 1805220057, 1805230058, 1805240064 and 1805250059).
Call it a distributed denial of service, a "bot swarm" or "something hammering" the FCC electronic comment filing system application programming interface, it's clear "something odd" occurred in May 2017, former Chief Information Officer David Bray wrote Tuesday. He responded to a report based on a Freedom of Information Act request that the agency misled media about a possible DDoS attack on its commenting system (see 1806050046). The thousand-plus pages of emails in that FOIA from American Oversight, which we reviewed, show executives from at least four software and cybersecurity firms effectively pitched their services to the agency in the days after the 2017 DDoS incident.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., didn't discount the possibility of a confirmation hearing this month for FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks, but told reporters Tuesday many details need to be worked out. President Donald Trump formally sent Starks' nomination to the Senate Monday amid forecasts it will easily confirm him (see 1806010072 and 1806040067). Senate Commerce's timeline for a confirmation hearing “depends entirely on how quickly we can process” Starks' paperwork and other materials, “but we will schedule it as soon as we can because we want” a full commission, Thune said. “We've been waiting for this nominee for a while, so I'm glad he's here.” Thune confirmed his interest in pairing Starks with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s nomination to a full five-year term ending in 2023 to ensure they both “get a vote” on the Senate floor. Senate Commerce advanced Carr’s confirmation to a full term in January (see 1801180049). The Senate confirmed Carr last year to an abbreviated term ending this month under a deal aimed at providing a clear Republican nominee to pair with a potential Mignon Clyburn successor (see 1706290063 and 1708030060). Two communications sector lobbyists meanwhile pointed to the move by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to cancel much of the chamber's August recess as a factor that could potentially affect Starks' confirmation timeline.
House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., pushed the committee's Republican leaders Tuesday to “immediately reschedule” a House Communications-led FCC oversight hearing originally planned for Feb. 16. It was postponed after House leaders canceled votes planned for that day, ending that week's schedule earlier than anticipated (see 1802120037). House Communications' last such hearing was in late October (see 1710250050).
All signs point to an easy Senate confirmation vote for FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks, but his lack of a clear public track record on many high-profile telecom policy issues likely portends tough questions from lawmakers in both parties in the weeks ahead, communications officials and lobbyists told us. President Donald Trump at our deadline Monday formally nominated Starks, an Enforcement Bureau assistant chief, to succeed outgoing Commissioner Mignon Clyburn for a term ending June 30, 2022. Chairman Ajit Pai and some other commissioners lauded Starks’ selection Friday, though only some directly received a White House announcement about the nomination then (see 1806010072).
Supporters of a Congressional Review Act resolution aimed at reversing the FCC's order to rescind 2015 net neutrality rules are beginning to focus on targeting potential House GOP supporters. Lawmakers and lobbyists we spoke with differed on whether the priority will be on targeting vulnerable incumbents as the most likely to flip to supporting the measure. The Senate voted 52-47 for the resolution earlier this month with the support of three Republicans (see 1805160043 and 1805160064). It faces tougher odds in the House since the GOP has a 235-193 advantage in that chamber.
Congress should move forward with legislation to limit President Donald Trump's ability to lift or otherwise weaken a Department of Commerce-imposed seven-year ban on U.S. companies selling telecom software and equipment to ZTE, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said separately Friday. The push followed reports the Trump administration had reached a tentative deal with the Chinese government. The White House didn't comment at our deadline on reports administration officials briefed top Hill lawmakers. The deal would involve Commerce lifting its full ban in exchange for ZTE's agreement to pay a substantial fine, install an American-staffed compliance unit within the Chinese telecom equipment maker and substantially change the firm's management. Trump and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross noted all three stipulations in comments last week (see 1805220057 and 1805240064). “If the administration goes through with this reported deal,” Trump “would be helping make China great again,” Schumer tweeted. It “would be a huge victory for President Xi [Jinping], and a dramatic retreat” by Trump. “Both parties in Congress should come together to stop this deal in its tracks,” Schumer said. Rubio, who was already publicly critical of attempts to rescind the ZTE ban (see 1805230058), tweeted the plan “is a great deal … for #ZTE & China.” The Chinese government “crushes U.S. companies with no mercy & they use these telecom companies to spy & steal from us,” Rubio said. “Many hoped this time would be different. Now congress will need to act.” The House-passed version of the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-5515) and Senate Armed Services Committee-cleared version of the bill contain ZTE-related provisions. Senate Armed Service's NDAA legislation includes the Banking Committee-cleared Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (S-2098), which would bar Trump from changing the Commerce ban on U.S. sales to ZTE sans certification to Congress that the company complied with U.S. laws. Trump faced criticism over ZTE last week (see 1805140062, 1805150068 and 1805160061).
The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee cleared its FY 2019 budget bill on a voice vote Thursday, including larger-than-requested allocations for the FCC and FTC. House Appropriations Financial Services allocated the FCC and its Office of Inspector General a combined $335 million, $2 million above the $333 million the Trump administration included in its FY 2019 budget proposal (see 1802120037). The budget bill maintains the FCC OIG's budget at slightly more than $11 million. House Appropriations Financial Services allocated more than $311 million to the FTC, up more than $1 million from the almost $310 million the Trump administration proposed. The subcommittee's budget bill also includes the text of the Amateur Radio Parity Act (HR-555/S-1534), which would direct the FCC to extend its rule on reasonable accommodation of amateur service communications to include private land use restrictions (see 1707130039). That bill passed the House in January 2017, but its text was dropped from FCC reauthorization legislation when the House Commerce Committee cleared it as part of the Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services (Ray Baum's) Act (HR-4986), prior to its enactment as part of the FY 2018 federal spending omnibus bill (see 1802140064 and 1803230038). S-1534 generated opposition on the Senate side (see 1710040063), particularly from Senate Commerce ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla. The House version of the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-5515), which the chamber passed Thursday, also includes HR-555's text (see 1805240064).