Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Wednesday that he and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., “will soon introduce together legislation to modernize NOAA Weather Radio warning systems.” Lobbyists told us the measure is likely to be identical to the NOAA Weather Radio Modernization Act filed by Cruz and then-Chair Cantwell during the last Congress. That bill, which the Senate approved by unanimous consent in 2023, would have required NOAA to upgrade infrastructure to improve reliable transmission of emergency alerts and reduce the system’s use of copper wire transmissions (see 2312190081). It also would have required increasing NOAA Weather Radio coverage to 98-99% of the U.S. population, including more rural areas.
Govs. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., and Henry McMaster, R-S.C., co-chairs of the National Governors Association, urged the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees to prioritize broadband deployment as part of the FY 2026 funding process. “We understand the critical role that reliable and accessible internet connectivity plays in bridging the digital divide in our communities,” Beshear and McMaster said in a letter to Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., and their Democratic ranking members.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said Tuesday it plans to release an unclassified 2022 report it commissioned on U.S. telecom networks’ security vulnerabilities amid a renewed pressure campaign from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. The Senate on Monday night passed by unanimous consent Wyden’s Telecom Cybersecurity Transparency Act (S-2480) to force the CISA report’s release, but the measure still requires approval from the House, which is on recess until Sept. 2. Wyden has also placed a hold on CISA director nominee Sean Plankey, which would prevent a swift confirmation process if the Homeland Security Committee advances him Wednesday.
Senate Homeland Security Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., launched a probe Tuesday of the federal government’s review of Skydance's $8 billion purchase of Paramount Global amid other Democrats’ corruption claims about the deal (see 2507250029). Meanwhile, the Freedom of the Press Foundation wants the disciplinary body for the D.C. Bar to investigate whether FCC Chairman Brendan Carr violated the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct in his handling of the Skydance/Paramount deal (see 2507290060).
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Monday to block transnational criminal groups’ access to the company’s Starlink satellite broadband service in a bid to cut it off as a fraud vector. She noted a recent Wired report about scam operations in Myanmar, Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia that used Starlink as their ISP. SpaceX didn’t immediately comment.
President Donald Trump signed the 2025 Rescissions Act, formally clawing back $1.1 billion in advance CPB funding (see 2507180048), the White House said Thursday night. Trump had long been expected to approve the bill given the administration sought the rollbacks in early June (see 2506030065). The president in May issued an executive order instructing CPB to cease funding NPR and PBS (see 2505020044).
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., led filing Thursday of a House companion (HR-4605) of the Senate's End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act (S-2068). HR-4605/S-2068 would ban “direct-to-consumer” broadcast and other forms of advertising for all prescription drugs. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee ranking member Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, filed S-2068 in June.
Three top House Commerce Committee Democrats said Wednesday they're opening an investigation into reports that mobile virtual network operator Trump Mobile (see 2506160040) would operate on T-Mobile’s network, claiming that “raises the appearance of a quid pro quo between [the carrier] and President [Donald] Trump regarding the direction of our country’s spectrum policies.” Word of the probe came as T-Mobile announced it once again was the U.S. wireless industry leader on subscriber growth in Q2 (see 2507230066)
The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee voted 9-6 along party lines Monday night to advance its FY 2026 budget bill, which proposes to maintain the FCC’s annual funding at $390.2 million (see 2507210064). The measure includes a set of riders that would bar the agency from using money to enforce certain policies that originated during the Biden administration and have been in Republicans’ crosshairs, including its 2024 digital discrimination order. House Appropriations previously included some of the riders in its FY 2025 funding bill, which didn’t get a floor vote (see 2406050067). House and Senate Republicans also bowed Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval last year that aimed to roll back the 2024 order (see 2403140070).
Reps. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., and Norma Torres, D-Calif., said Monday night they relaunched the Congressional Next-Generation 911 Caucus in a renewed bid to push for federal funding for NG-911 tech upgrades. The National Emergency Number Association and other 911 advocates are considering how to move forward on NG911 funding after congressional Republicans decided against allocating any future spectrum auction revenue for that purpose in the budget reconciliation package, which both chambers passed earlier this month (see 2507080065).