House Communications Subcommittee member Rep. Tony Cardenas of California is leading a letter with almost two dozen other chamber Democrats urging the FCC not to refresh the record in docket 14-261 on reclassifying linear streaming services as MVPDs. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has maintained the agency doesn’t have the authority to reclassify streaming services, and the FCC said her thinking hadn’t changed after a June letter from Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., (see 2306230062). Twenty other Senate Democratic caucus members pushed last month in favor of a proceeding refresh (see 2310180067). “It was clear even in the 2014 FCC proceeding on this issue that video streaming and the video streaming marketplace were different, and therefore the FCC decided not to proceed,” Cardenas and the other Democratic lawmakers said in a draft of the letter to Rosenworcel we obtained Monday. “Aside from being an inappropriate standard to apply to the streaming marketplace, there is also reason to believe that these issues may be outside of FCC’s scope. The 2014 FCC proceeding record shows that there were issues with the FCC asserting jurisdiction. Ultimately, it is the role of Congress to determine changes to the streaming marketplace, and for these reasons, we urge you to close the 2014 proceeding.” Other House Democrats signing on to the letter include Innovation Subcommittee ranking member Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and Communications member Yvette Clarke of New York.

A bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers has struck a compromise on legislation for revising and reauthorizing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 (see 2306130053). Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, will announce the legislation with Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; Warren Davidson, R-Ohio; and Andy Biggs, R-Ky., during a news conference at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, they said Monday. The bill will help hold government abusers accountable and strengthen constitutional protections for Americans, they said.

Department of Homeland Security employees flagged “misinformation” for a group of nonprofit researchers with the goal of having 2020 election content removed from social media platforms, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., claimed in a series of documents released Monday. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Administration employees searched for 2020 election-related content for the Election Integrity Partnership, a group of four nongovernmental organizations focused on misinformation and disinformation, Green said in an announcement with House Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Dan Bishop, R-N.C. Green and Bishop cited emails showing CISA employees expressed desire to take down certain election-related content, which raises First Amendment issues. This included alleged misinformation about COVID-19, they said. DHS didn’t comment.

Senate Commerce Committee member Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is pressing FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to explain by Nov. 16 the legal justification for pursuing her proposal to largely reinstate the commission’s rescinded 2015 net neutrality rules and reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service (see 2310190020). Senate Commerce ranking member Ted Cruz of Texas and other congressional Republicans vigorously criticized Rosenworcel for considering the reboot but are holding back from pursuing legislation to stop her, for now (see 2310170071). “I will not stand idly by as the FCC under your leadership attempts to usurp Congress and claim Article I Branch legislative authority for yourself,” Schmitt said in a Thursday letter to Rosenworcel. “If you decide to move forward with this reckless action, expect my colleagues and I” on Senate Commerce “to call for your appearance before the committee to be held accountable. Though your recent decisions demonstrate that you clearly believe that Congress is a mere speedbump, I will defend the will of Missourians who elected me to the Senate to stand up against economy killing regulations such as the one you are proposing.” Schmitt is asking Rosenworcel to detail “the specific authority granted by Congress to support” the new net neutrality NPRM. He also wants her to “confirm that you believe” Title II reclassification “would be a regulation of ‘vast economic and political significance'” and “explain how the Commission is preparing for an almost certain legal challenge under the major questions doctrine” that the U.S. Supreme Court invoked in its 2022 West Virginia v. EPA ruling (see 2206300066).

Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, wants to attach an amendment to the House Appropriations Committee-approved Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee FY 2024 funding bill (HR-5894) that would bar funding from the bill to, “directly or indirectly, be made available to or used to support” either NPR or PBS. House Appropriations approved HR-5894 in July without language providing for advance FY 2026 CPB money (see 2307140069). Jackson’s amendment would include barring use of federal funds for “payment of dues to or the purchase of programming from any such organization by a public broadcast station.” House leaders expect to bring HR-5894 to the floor the week of Nov. 13.

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and two other Democratic senators praised NTIA Friday for issuing a conditional waiver of the broadband, equity, access and deployment program's letter of credit requirement (see 2311010040). Lujan and the other two senators, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Peter Welch of Vermont, previously wrote Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson urging them to consider alternatives to the LOC requirement for BEAD participation. “I'm glad that” Davidson “heeded our call to allow Tribal entities, municipalities, credit unions, and smaller broadband providers to fully participate in connecting families in New Mexico and across the country,” Lujan said: “This waiver authority relies on tested tools to ensure broadband providers are able to complete the work while also providing flexibility to better connect New Mexicans.”

A new Meta whistleblower will testify about the teen “mental health crisis” on Tuesday before the Senate Privacy Subcommittee, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced Friday. Former Instagram consultant Arturo Bejar has shared “new, irrefutable evidence that senior Facebook executives knowingly turned a blind eye to horrific harms to young people on the company’s platforms,” subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a statement with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. Citing a new Wall Street Journal report, they said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram head Adam Mosseri and Meta executives “were personally warned that millions of teens face bullying, eating disorder material, illicit drugs, and sexual exploitation, often within minutes of opening the app.” The company hid this information from Congress, ignored recommendations on how to protect users and rolled back safety tools, the senators said: “Arturo’s first-hand knowledge and damning evidence prove that Meta has put profits ahead of the safety and wellbeing of millions of teenagers, with a deadly toll on young people and families.” The company didn’t comment. Senators vowed to move legislation after the 2021 testimony of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen (see 2110050062).

Bipartisan legislation introduced Thursday would require federal agencies to incorporate the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s AI risk management framework into their AI-related operations. Introduced by Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., the Federal Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Act would establish guidelines for how the federal government uses AI technology. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., will introduce companion legislation in the House. Agencies aren’t currently required to use the framework to manage AI systems.

The Senate voted 82-15 Wednesday night to pass its FY 2024 Agriculture Department “minibus” appropriations bill via a substitute amendment to shell bill HR-4366 with higher funding for some department broadband programs than the House included in its FY24 USDA measure (HR-4368) but a substantial decrease in its ReConnect allocation compared with the lower chamber. The HR-4366 substitute amendment from Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., and ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, gives USDA $62.7 million for rural telemedicine and distance learning grants, up 9% from what the House proposed in HR-4368 (see 2309270046). HR-4366 would give ReConnect $98 million, down more than 174% from the House amount. It would give USDA $35 million for the Community Connect grants program, up 14 % from what the House seeks. The Senate voted 23-74 earlier in the week against an amendment from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., that sought substantial cuts to USDA’s connectivity programs compared to HR-4368: $43 million for rural telemedicine and distance learning grants, $67.3 million for ReConnect and $24 million for Community Connect. The Senate approved by voice an en bloc amendments package that included proposals from Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, aimed at Department of Veterans Affairs telemedicine funding. Rosen wants to allocate $5.18 billion for the VA “to sustain and increase telehealth capacity, including in rural and highly rural areas, and associated programmatic efforts.” Sullivan wants to direct the VA secretary to prioritize funding for telehealth services, including suicide prevention outreach.

Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., is urging the FCC to “immediately address deficiencies” with its broadband coverage maps and related “standards that determine a serviced area, both of which neglect to consider the distinct challenges in providing” connectivity “in mountain communities across Colorado.” Inadequate broadband availability in those areas of the state “places a significant strain on my constituents and raises serious safety concerns,” Neguse said in a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel released Wednesday night. “Many of the areas referenced above appear to have full mobile broadband coverage, which is not reflective of the reality on the ground. The resulting inaccuracies are major impediments to unserved and underserved communities seeking federal and state resources specifically designed to address broadband gaps such as these.” NTIA recently said it’s giving the state $826.5 million via its broadband equity, access and deployment program (see 2310260066).