The House is set to vote as soon as Monday night on HR-1737, which would direct NTIA to submit a report to Congress on the feasibility of developing a trans-Atlantic submarine fiber cable connecting the U.S., the U.S. Virgin Islands, Ghana and Nigeria. The House previously passed the measure during the last Congress as the DiasporaLink Act. The House Commerce Committee advanced HR-1737 in March (see 2503040063).

Nextlink Internet Chief Strategy Officer Claude Aiken and 23 officials from other Texas-based WISPA member companies urged the state's GOP senators, Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, to “consider the importance of shared spectrum, particularly” the 3550-3650 MHz citizens broadband radio service band, as the chamber moves forward on a budget reconciliation package that Republicans want to include airwaves legislative language. Cruz led a Senate Commerce reconciliation proposal for an 800 MHz pipeline of reallocated spectrum that would exclude some DOD-controlled bands but doesn't address CBRS (see 2506060029).

The Senate Finance Committee's portion of the chamber’s proposed budget reconciliation package, released Monday night, omits language from the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (HR-1873/S-674) that Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and others were seeking. The measure would amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow broadband grants enacted via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and American Rescue Plan Act, including NTIA's $42.5 billion BEAD program, to not count as gross income (see 2503050073). Moran said during an Incompas event in March that the reconciliation process was “probably the only possibility” for moving S-674, given that the forthcoming legislative package aims to extend tax cuts enacted during the first Trump administration (see 2503110058).

The Senate’s Monday executive calendar said two cloture motions for Republican FCC nominee Olivia Trusty would “ripen” at 5:30 p.m., meaning they would be eligible for votes this week, as expected (see 2506130065). Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., filed last week for cloture on both of Trusty’s nominations -- one to finish out the term of former Democratic FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, which ends June 30, and a subsequent full five-year term. Trusty is very likely to clear the Senate’s majority-vote cloture threshold for executive branch nominees on what lobbyists expect to be unanimous GOP support. Thune previously indicated he was likely to move up Trusty in confirmation priority after Republican FCC commissioner Nathan Simington abruptly departed the commission earlier this month (see 2506040073). Simington’s exit and the simultaneous departure of Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks left the commission in a 1-1 tie and lacking a quorum.

The offices of Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., continued sparring Monday over panel Republicans’ proposed spectrum language for the chamber’s budget reconciliation package. The proposal, which Cruz released earlier this month, would renew the FCC’s lapsed auction authority through Sept. 30, 2034, and mandate an 800 MHz pipeline of spectrum for licensed sale (see 2506060029). The measure proposes excluding the 3.1-3.45 GHz and 7.4-8.4 GHz bands from potential reallocation. Cantwell repeatedly criticized Republicans’ proposal last week as inadequately protecting DOD-controlled airwaves (see 2506120084).

Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada, a Congressional Public Broadcasting Caucus co-chairman, said Thursday he joined three other Republicans in voting against the 2025 Rescissions Act (HR-4) because of its language clawing back $1.1 billion of CPB's advance funding for FY 2026 and FY 2027 (see 2506090036). The lower chamber passed HR-4 214-212, largely along party lines apart from the four GOP defectors (see 2506120084). CPB, NPR, PBS and America’s Public Television Stations urged the Senate Thursday night not to agree to the House-passed cuts.

The leaders of the House and Senate Communications subcommittees said Thursday they're reviving the bicameral USF revamp working group, which had paused its work on legislative recommendations last year amid uncertainty following the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in the Consumers' Research lawsuit against the program’s funding mechanism (see 2407300053). The Supreme Court heard oral arguments for its review of the case in March (see 2503260061). Working group members had considered melding the FCC’s lapsed affordable connectivity program with USF’s Lifeline program and keeping the latter’s narrower eligibility rules (see 2404170066).

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, praised NTIA’s rewritten rules for its $42.5 billion BEAD program, which require states to reapply for the money (see 2506060052). Panel ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and other Democrats have strongly criticized NTIA and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (see 2506090051).

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB) and more than 80 other groups jointly urged House lawmakers not to pass the Senate-cleared Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval (S.J.Res. 7) to undo the FCC's July 2024 order allowing schools and libraries to use E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots. The Senate cleared S.J.Res. 7 earlier this month on a 50-38 party-line vote (see 2505080055).

The House Communications Subcommittee plans a hearing June 4 on how U.S. communications networks can support AI applications, the Commerce Committee said Wednesday night. AI “is launching our economy into a new American golden age marked by development and opportunity, but these increasingly dynamic industries need certainty that our networks can support the future of artificial intelligence and its applications,” said House Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Communications Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C. “Fast, reliable networks are crucial for enabling innovation and enhancing America’s technological advantage. We look forward to discussing with our witnesses about how Congress can support this important goal.” The hearing will begin at 10:30 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.