It’s “utterly ridiculous” DOJ is attempting to circumvent Congress by reauthorizing its surveillance authorities through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Thursday. DOJ is reportedly seeking a yearlong extension of its surveillance powers under Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702, which expires in April (see 2312140052). It’s “utterly ridiculous that the Biden Administration and the Justice Department would rather risk the long-term future of an important surveillance authority than support a single meaningful reform to protect Americans’ rights,” said Wyden. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., also denounced DOJ’s request: It’s “extraordinary that, despite broad support for substantial reform, the Department of Justice is discreetly attempting to bypass the legislative process to secure another surveillance reauthorization. This is unacceptable, and completely undermines the authority of the Congress.” Demand Progress Policy Director Sean Vitka called DOJ's request a "gross betrayal of the American people." DOJ didn’t comment.

The House voted 320-99 Thursday to approve a continuing resolution (HR-7463) that would extend federal appropriations for NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies, DOJ’s Antitrust Division and the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service through March 8, averting a partial government shutdown that would otherwise close RUS late Friday. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other congressional leaders said they reached a deal on appropriations measures covering those agencies, so the short-term extension would allow time for Congress to address individual funding measures. HR-7463 also extends appropriations for the FCC and FTC through March 22. The CR’s enactment prospects remained in doubt Thursday afternoon amid misgivings from some Senate Republicans, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hoped to hold a vote that evening.

Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune of South Dakota remained tight-lipped Wednesday about whether he would seek the chamber's top Republican post following Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's announcement earlier in the day that he will step down in November. “We'll let you know soon what we’re thinking,” Thune told reporters. McConnell (Ky.) will leave “big shoes to fill” and “today we’ll reflect on his service and honor him for that,” Thune added. Observers have long tipped Thune, the minority whip, as a leading contender to succeed McConnell as the chamber's Republican leader. Other likely contenders include Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (Wyo.) and former GOP Whip John Cornyn (Texas). Thune, a former Senate Commerce chairman, took the Communications gavel in 2019 (see 1901160046).

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., asked DOD and NTIA Wednesday for an explanation of how they will conduct new studies of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band, which the Biden administration's national spectrum strategy requires (see 2311130048). Both lawmakers strongly supported the House Commerce Committee-cleared Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565), which proposes selling part of the lower 3 GHz band (see 2305240069). Lawmakers are grappling with reshaping a spectrum legislative package amid stalled talks and the DOD's negative findings last year about the effect that potential 5G use of the lower 3 GHz band would have on incumbent military systems (see 2312280044). The DOD “assessment found that non-federal operations are feasible if certain advanced interference mitigation features and a coordination framework are put in place,” Latta and Matsui said in a letter to NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson and DOD Chief Information Officer John Sherman. The national spectrum strategy's lower 3 GHz mandate provides an “opportunity to build upon” DOD's earlier findings by “studying additional private-sector access” on the band. “Clearly articulating the processes your agencies will use to study this band will help provide certainty for both federal and non-federal users,” the lawmakers said. They emphasized that NTIA developed the strategy “consistent with its statutory role as the sole agency responsible for authorizing Federal spectrum use.” They want insight from Davidson and Sherman about how DOD and NTIA will “co-lead” work on the new studies and “ensure a consistent and evidence-based process is used to establish methodology, assumptions, and parameters.” The legislators also want details about steps the agencies will “take to ensure all opportunities for commercial use in the Lower 3 GHz are fully considered and all relevant stakeholders have the ability to participate.”

The FTC should investigate the data privacy practices of major automakers, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wrote the agency Tuesday. Markey said he is seeking details about privacy practices at Ford, BMW, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Stellantis, Subaru, Tesla and Volkswagen. Markey said the companies are evasive about consumer consent, how data is used for commercial purposes and whether data was compromised in cybersecurity attacks. Automakers “are collecting large amounts of data on drivers, passengers, and even people outside the vehicle, with little to no oversight,” he said. The agency confirmed receiving the letter but declined comment.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other congressional leaders were optimistic Tuesday they can avoid a partial government shutdown that would otherwise shutter the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service and other agencies when an existing continuing resolution expires Friday night. A second CR covering the FCC, FTC, NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies and the DOJ Antitrust Division lasts through March 8 (see 2401180057). Johnson told reporters after a meeting with President Joe Biden and Capitol Hill leaders he’s “very optimistic” that Congress can keep government running. “We believe that we can get to agreement on these issues and prevent a government shutdown, and that’s our first responsibility,” he said. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., agreed. “We can’t shut the government down,” Schumer said, but to do that now “means we need CRs” rather than a “minibus” appropriations package Johnson recently floated.

SpaceX didn't comment Tuesday on FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's recent explanation that the Wireless Bureau rejected Starlink's application for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) money in 2022 (see 2208100050) because it didn't meet “program requirements,” including “difficulty meeting the basic uplink and downlink speed standards for the program.” Republicans escalated criticism of the FCC after the commission upheld the Wireline Bureau's decision in December (see 2312130027). All RDOF applicants “were subject to the same rules -- the smallest carriers and largest carriers alike,” Rosenworcel told House Communications Subcommittee member Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida and 11 other Republicans in letters released Friday night. The GOP lawmakers pressed the issue in January. The Wireline Bureau's finding about Starlink's speed issues “has since been confirmed by the company’s most recent publicly available performance data,” Rosenworcel said: The bureau found Starlink “showed download speeds from 53-65 Mbps and upload speeds from 7-10 Mbps. As a result, the Commission concluded that Starlink would not be reasonably capable of meeting its performance obligations across the significantly larger customer base and service area it had committed to serving as a result of its winning RDOF bids, which would put even greater pressure on its network.” Starlink’s “proposal would have required every subscriber to purchase a $600 dish to simply start to receive the service,” she said. “No other services supported by the program included such high start-up costs on rural consumers.” The FCC's “review indicated that in more than 6,501 census blocks where Starlink sought support from the RDOF program were not unserved rural households, but actually parking lots, traffic medians, and locations that already have service like the Chicago Loop and Newark International Airport,” Rosenworcel said: “When we requested that Starlink no longer seek funding for these locations, the company refused.”

Former FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor is citing the extensive Thursday outages on AT&T’s wireless network (see 2402220058) as a reason for Congress to approve the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-3413/S-1669). The measure would require a Transportation Department mandate for inclusion of AM radio technology in future vehicles. HR-3413/S-1669 continues to face obstacles in both chambers, though S-1669 lead GOP sponsor and Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other supporters have eyed alternate routes to pass it this year (see 2401050065). “Last week’s cell outage and the revelation of Russia’s capacity to disrupt U.S. communications satellites should be a sobering wake-up call to Congress that it is time to pass” HR-3413/S-1669, Gaynor, the acting homeland security secretary during the final eight days of the Trump administration, wrote in an opinion piece for The Hill Saturday. “Here’s hoping Congress listens to the nation’s leading public safety experts and acts before the consequences of inaction become tragically significant.” AM radio “is often the only communication available to those in harm’s way,” especially in disasters when “there was no power and cell towers quickly became overwhelmed,” he said. “That is why it has always been the fail-safe communication system public safety leaders rely upon to keep the citizenry safe and informed -- and why FEMA has cautioned carmakers away from removing AM.” The auto industry “is opposing” HR-3413/S-1669, “arguing that new digital streaming services and cellphones can adequately keep the population informed,” Gaynor said: “However, millions of Americans have limited to no cell coverage on a good day and rely on AM radio stations for critical emergency information.”

George Kelemen, Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies executive director, advised National Emergency Number Association members Monday to distinguish between the general push for Congress to appropriate $15 billion for next-generation 911 tech upgrades and existing legislative vehicles for allocating that funding when they meet this week with Capitol Hill offices. Backers of the House Commerce Committee-cleared Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565), which would use some future auction proceeds to pay up to $14.8 billion for NG-911, haven't advanced the measure amid stalled negotiations on a broader spectrum legislative package (see 2312280044). Some offices, particularly Senate Republicans, are likely to say HR-3565 “‘is dead,’ and as a legislative vehicle it may very well be dead,” Kelemen said during NENA’s conference in Pentagon City, Virginia. “It’s still technically … a live bill,” and the hope is that lawmakers will “take all of the important parts of” the bill dealing with NG-911 and put them in "a different vehicle sometime this year and let’s hope they get it all done.” The NG-911 language in HR-3565, which mirrors an aborted spectrum legislative deal leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees agreed to in December 2022 (see 2212190069), is “what we’re looking for and that’s what we’d like to see in whatever vehicle eventually moves,” Kelemen said. NENA members will also lobby lawmakers’ offices on the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act (HR-6319) and similar Enhancing First Response Act (S-3556), both of which would reclassify public safety call-takers and dispatchers as a protective service.

Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman, both D-Pa., are urging the FCC to “act swiftly to conclude its review” of Fox station WTXF Philadelphia's license renewal application. The Media and Democracy Project has petitioned the FCC since July against renewing WTXF’s license based on disclosures from the Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox defamation lawsuit and the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol (see 2307060065). Other federal and Pennsylvania Democratic lawmakers have spoken in favor of WTXF (see 2402220076). “It is critical” that the FCC administer the renewal review process “in a fair and neutral manner, as it has been for decades,” Casey and Fetterman said in a Friday letter to the FCC posted Monday. WTXF “has provided a platform that uplifts Philadelphia's diverse voices and supports local journalism, and we hope that its delivery of local news and local programming to the community is not disrupted.” The record in the renewal proceeding “is replete with comments from Philadelphia residents, organizations, and elected officials from a range of backgrounds attesting to the station's commitment to upholding the core values of local broadcasting and to serving Philadelphia’s residents,” the senators said: “We hope that you take these comments as a testament to the importance this station has in the community.”