FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez condemned the FCC investigations of broadcast networks as "weaponization" of the FCC's authority, while the Center for American Rights called for the agency to investigate diversity initiatives at CBS.

Satellite interests, led by SpaceX, are hungry for more spectrum for direct-to-device (D2D) service and are expected to seek access to the upper C band, which the FCC will examine in a notice of inquiry set for a vote at Thursday's open meeting (see 2502060062). Elon Musk, who is playing a huge role in the new Donald Trump administration and heads SpaceX, could influence what the FCC does, industry experts note.

Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.

Wireless carriers must add spectrum and deepen their fiber commitment, New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin said Wednesday. “Carriers should buy every piece of spectrum they can get their hands on … because we’re going to run out at some point relatively soon,” he told a Broadband Breakfast webinar. “There’s a scramble for both categories of assets, and they’re both imperative.”

President Donald Trump’s latest norm-busting executive order (see 2502180069) directing the FCC, among other "so-called independent" agencies and executive branch bodies, to submit regulatory actions to the White House before they're published in the Federal Register could complicate Brendan Carr’s push to be an active chairman at the FCC, industry experts said Wednesday.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, seemed during and after a Wednesday panel hearing to be eyeing an escalation of his long-simmering battle with DOD and its most vociferous congressional supporters, who oppose legislation mandating reallocation of spectrum bands for 5G use, which they say could impact military incumbents. Cruz touted his 2024 Spectrum Pipeline Act during the hearing as the preferred language for an airwaves title in a budget reconciliation package, as expected (see 2502180058). Some witnesses strongly praised Cruz's proposal. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and many panel Democrats criticized it.

Consumers’ Research is getting support from other right-of-center groups as it pushes a legal theory at the U.S. Supreme Court that poses a challenge to the USF's future. SCOTUS will hear FCC v. Consumers' Research on March 26, challenging the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-7 en banc decision invalidating how the USF program is funded (see 2501090045).

The full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should overturn its three-judge panel’s decision against the FCC’s 2024 net neutrality order, said an en banc appeal that Public Knowledge, Free Press, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, and the Open Technology Institute jointly filed Tuesday. The 6th Circuit should grant en banc review because the January decision creates a circuit split with the 9th Circuit and the D.C. Circuit on whether broadband internet access service (BIAS) falls under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, the appeal said. The 6th Circuit panel “shoehorned its policy preferences into the law, in a slapdash and inconsistent opinion that, if left unchallenged, will eliminate the ability of future regulators to promote universal, affordable competitive broadband access,” Public Knowledge Legal Director John Bergmayer said in a statement.

As federal policymakers continue studying the lower 3 GHz band for possible reallocation for full-power, licensed use, the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) remains a critical focus, said Doug Brake, CTIA assistant vice president-policy communications, during a Technology Policy Institute webinar Tuesday. Advocates of licensed, unlicensed and satellite use said all need more spectrum as the Senate Commerce Committee prepares for Wednesday’s hearing on the topic (see 2502180058).

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us last week he is pessimistic about the chances that talks aimed at easing DOD supporters’ objections to repurposing the 3.1-3.45 GHz band and other military-controlled frequencies will lead to a deal in time to allow congressional leaders to include expansive spectrum legislative language in a budget reconciliation package. Other congressional leaders in the spectrum talks noted ongoing efforts to assuage DOD backers. Lobbyists expect the DOD factor to come up repeatedly during a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing on spectrum legislative issues (see 2502130041).