Senate Commerce Likely Will Pivot to Spectrum Pipeline Act in Cruz Chairmanship
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will likely redirect the panel's airwaves legislative focus toward a version of his 2024 Spectrum Pipeline Act (S-3909) next year should Republicans control the Senate after the Nov. 5 elections and he becomes chairman. Cruz could face continued headwinds from DOD's staunchest Capitol Hill backers if he pursues legislation similar to S-3909, lobbyists and others predicted. Current Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., hopes she can attach her rival Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207) to an end-of-year omnibus package (see 2409170066).
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Cruz told us “freeing up spectrum … is going to be right at the top of our priority list” if he becomes Senate Commerce chairman. “It’s critically important for the economy,” he said in an interview just before Congress recessed at the end of September. Cruz led filing of S-3909 in March with language that would require NTIA to identify at least 2,500 MHz of midband spectrum the federal government can reallocate for nonfederal or shared use within the next five years (see 2403110066).
“It is tragic that Senate Democrats have not been willing to prioritize spectrum,” Cruz said. “There are very few policies that can unleash hundreds of billions of dollars of investment and create thousands upon thousands of high-paying jobs the way spectrum can. And yet, with Washington Democrats, creating jobs is simply not a priority.” Cruz has adamantly opposed S-4207 because it doesn’t obligate reallocation of major swaths of spectrum and proposes using future auction revenue to fund the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and other telecom priorities (see 2404250061).
Cantwell plans to continue pushing for attaching S-4207 to an FY 2025 appropriations omnibus bill or other legislation once Congress reconvenes Nov. 12. She noted Senate Commerce aides “have had conversations about” the bill with the House Commerce Committee in hopes of getting public support for the measure. House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., has thus far demurred from backing S-4207 while Senate-side negotiations remain stalled (see 2405010051).
Cantwell is still seeking a follow-up meeting with members of the Senate Commerce and Armed Services committees who have been skeptical of S-4207 to explain why Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Biden administration-appointed military leaders endorsed revisions to the bill in June (see 2406120058). Cantwell told us she couldn’t set the meeting during the Senate’s September session because of a compressed legislative schedule. She now wants the meeting either in November “when we return” or via phone “while people are out.”
Armed Services member Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told us he doubts Cantwell can move forward on S-4207 via end-of-year legislation because some military officials have been “pretty clear about the dangers” of selling DOD-held spectrum. Rounds signaled he's likely to continue opposing any spectrum legislation that would leave the 3.1-3.45 GHz band open to reallocation if Cruz becomes Senate Commerce chairman.
'DOD Lobby'
Rounds said a “full classified discussion on just how serious” opening the lower 3 GHz band to commercial 5G “would be to the defense of our country” could sway Cruz to rule out the lower 3 GHz band as part of a future spectrum pipeline. Cruz’s S-3909 doesn't rule out reallocating the military-controlled frequency, which has been a flashpoint that's stymied spectrum legislative talks throughout this Congress (see 2408150039).
Digital Progress Institute President Joel Thayer expects Cruz as Senate Commerce chairman would push much harder for a spectrum bill that mirrors S-3909 in the next Congress and that House Commerce would likely “follow his lead” if Republicans keep control of the lower chamber. House Commerce leaders tried to “strike a deal” with Cantwell last year in advancing their Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565), which paired a lower 3 GHz sale with spending on rip and replace and other priorities (see 2305240069), Thayer told us.
Michael Calabrese, New America Open Technology Institute's Wireless Future Project director, expects House Commerce to continue pursuing a more “realistic approach” to spectrum legislation in the next Congress regardless of whether Cruz wields the Senate Commerce gavel. S-3909 as filed represents Cruz’s “fantasy bill” and any spectrum legislative deal during the next Congress will likely “look nothing like” that measure, Calabrese told us.
Cruz’s aides appear to acknowledge “there’s really nothing they can do to quell the concerns” DOD’s Hill allies have with reallocating even a portion of military frequencies, Thayer said. “It will certainly be a consideration if Cruz is at the helm” because of national security implications, but he’s unlikely to give as much weight to “the DOD lobby” than has been the case during this Congress.
DOD “is probably in a stronger position” to oppose reallocating its spectrum for commercial 5G use now that “there are multiple military conflicts” abroad, regardless of whether Vice President Kamala Harris (D) or former President Donald Trump (R) win on Nov. 5, Calabrese said. House and Senate Armed Services Republicans “may resist disrupting defense operations” on those bands even if Trump backed such a move.