The Senate Commerce Committee is again postponing a planned markup of the Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207), a spokesperson confirmed Monday night. The Tuesday meeting would have been Senate Commerce’s fourth attempt to vote on S-4207, which in a revised form unveiled last week would renew the FCC’s lapsed spectrum auction authority for five years but mandated no sales of specific bands. S-4207’s prospects of getting bipartisan support had appeared doubtful Monday, but the bill’s backers were continuing that afternoon to court a handful of Republican holdouts to back it.

The Senate Commerce Committee is postponing a planned Wednesday vote on the Spectrum and National Security Act (S-4207), a spokesperson confirmed Tuesday night. That marks the third time the panel has postponed consideration of S-4207 since early May amid continued stumbling blocks in talks aimed at garnering GOP support for the measure. S-4207 would restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through Sept. 30, 2029, allocate money to the expired affordable connectivity program and fully pay for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.

A coalition of industry groups on Friday challenged the FCC's net neutrality order and declaratory ruling reclassifying broadband as a Communications Act Title II telecom service.

Mission Broadcasting is withdrawing from its proposed $75 million purchase of WADL Mount Clemens, Michigan, according to documents obtained Wednesday by Communications Daily. The FCC approved the sale in April but with a host of conditions that would essentially prevent Nexstar from operating the station through a local marketing agreement, as had been planned. The FCC order “constitutes a law that prohibits the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the purchase agreement,” Mission said in a letter to WADL owner Adell Broadcasting. The order conditionally granting the sale said that if Mission didn’t accept the conditions, the matter would be designated for hearing. The transaction won’t be consummated, “thus obviating any basis for a hearing,” Mission told the FCC in a rejection of grant filing Wednesday. Broadcast attorneys have told us that they expect that the dissolution of the deal would lead to the FCC not moving forward with the hearing, but it’s not certain how the agency will proceed. Last year, a hearing on the Standard General/Tegna deal was terminated on the deal’s breakup. Attorneys have said that a hearing proceeding could be a threat to the licenses held by Mission and Nexstar. Adell Broadcasting CEO Kevin Adell told us he believes a hearing would have been a “dumb risk” for Mission and Nexstar and said he isn’t bothered by the deal’s dissolution. “It doesn’t matter to Kevin Adell,” he said. Adell said Nexstar still needs to find a home for the CW network in the Detroit market by the end of August, and that he believes his company could reach a deal with Nexstar to carry the network through a local marketing agreement. Adell had previously threatened to pursue legal action against Mission if the deal weren't consummated. He didn't comment Wednesday on whether he was still planning to pursue the matter in court. Nexstar and Mission didn’t immediately comment.

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., said Thursday night he has secured commitments from chamber leaders to move forward on allocating $6 billion in stopgap funding for the FCC’s affordable connectivity program and $3.08 billion for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program amid last-minute talks to pass an FAA reauthorization package. The Senate was still voting Thursday night on passing an amended version of the FAA Reauthorization Act (HR-3935) that doesn’t include the ACP/rip-and-replace language Lujan and others sought, as expected.

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and four other senators joined forces Tuesday night to file an amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill that would allocate $6 billion to the FCC’s affordable connectivity program for FY 2024 and $3.08 billion to fully fund the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. Senate leaders were still in talks Tuesday night on what amendments to the FAA package they would allow floor votes on in hopes of securing a time agreement to speed consideration of the measure.

The Senate Commerce Committee is postponing markups of an amended version of the draft Spectrum and National Security Act and other bills that were set for consideration during a Wednesday executive session, the panel announced Tuesday night. Senate Commerce still planned to vote Wednesday on a slate of nominations and will consider the postponed bills at an unspecified later date. A panel spokesperson said the postponement was due to time constraints, including ones related to floor consideration of the FAA Reauthorization Act.

The Senate Commerce Committee is eyeing a May 1 vote on the to-be-filed Spectrum and National Security Act from panel Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., lobbyists told us. A general notice on the Senate Commerce markup session was online Wednesday night but the committee hadn’t formally announced its agenda. It wasn’t certain Wednesday night whether the Spectrum and National Security Act would actually be part of the meeting. The executive session will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell. There are five other telecom and tech-focused bills on the docket: the Rural Broadband Protection Act (S-275), Network Equipment Transparency Act (S-690), Protecting Kids on Social Media Act (S-1291), Create AI Act (S-2714) and Future of AI Innovation Act (S-4178).

The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act FY 2024 minibus spending bill released early Thursday morning doesn't include stopgap funding for the FCC's affordable connectivity program or the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, as expected. The measure allocates almost $390.2 million to the FCC for FY24 and $425.7 million to the FTC. It also includes $535 million for CPB in FY 2026, turning back House Appropriations Committee Republicans' attempt to end that entity's advance funding.

The Senate Commerce Committee plans a March 21 spectrum policy hearing that will focus at least in part on a potential clean FCC auction mandate renewal in the face of stalled talks on a more comprehensive package, panel Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Thursday. Senate Commerce hadn’t yet formally noticed the hearing Thursday afternoon. Cantwell has been eyeing a five-to-seven-year FCC reauthorization and has received a score on the proposal from the Congressional Budget Office, communications policy lobbyists told us.