Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio of Florida and four other Republicans urged President Joe Biden Monday to “take immediate action to halt” Huawei’s attempt to circumvent U.S. restrictions on semiconductor exports to the company by providing money for Chinese startup Pengxinwei (PXW) IC Manufacturing to build a chip manufacturing plant in Shenzhen. The GOP senators in a letter to Biden cited reports Huawei would likely buy most of the semiconductors made at the new factory, which would have capacity to produce chips of up to 14 nanometers. The first chips are expected to be available in the first half of next year. The other signers are: Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee. “This would represent a dangerous leap in Chinese semiconductor manufacturing, as Chinese chipmakers have thus far only been able to produce 7-nanometer chips in limited quantities,” the senators wrote Biden. “With these new chips for its base stations, Huawei could resume its march towards 5G market dominance,” and the Chinese Communist Party “will advance its plan to control global telecommunications and extend its economic espionage and repression.” The lawmakers said they’re “deeply concerned that, despite the obvious threat that PXW poses, your administration has taken no official steps to delay the project’s progress, despite being aware of the project for some time.” The Bureau of Industry and Security’s “apparent inaction” in not already placing PXW on its entity list “is a dereliction of duty” given the company’s “clear connection with Huawei,” the Republicans said: “As far as we can tell, Commerce has not sent a single ‘informed’ letter to any entities potentially working with PXW, ordering them to halt all shipments to and transactions with the factory.” BIS and Huawei didn’t immediately comment.

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and other lawmakers filed the Identifying Propaganda on Our Airwaves Act Monday in a bid to undo the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s July ruling that vacated the FCC’s requirement that broadcasters check federal databases to determine if entities leasing time on their stations are agents of foreign governments, as expected (see 2209020032). Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., filed the Senate version. The FCC unanimously approved an NPRM on updating the rule to account for the court decision earlier this month (see 2210060068). The NPRM sought comment on proposals to require certification or screenshots of federal databases from broadcasters and programming lessees to demonstrate they aren't foreign agents. The D.C. Circuit’s ruling in NAB v. FCC (see 2207120069) “was a disastrous decision” and the “American people deserve to know when radio programming they hear on public airwaves is foreign government-funded propaganda,” Eshoo said: “Our legislation unambiguously grants the FCC the authority to require broadcasters to conduct reasonable diligence to identify foreign agents and their shell companies so Americans will know who is funding the information on our public airwaves.” Under “current regulations, the New Axis of Evil can use shell companies to broadcast regime-funded propaganda across American airwaves,” Blackburn said. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel hailed the measure, saying "consumers deserve to trust that public airwaves aren’t being leased without their knowledge to foreign governments." Eshoo's office also cited support from Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. NAB is "closely reviewing this legislation," a spokesperson emailed. It "and several other broadcast organizations have worked to ensure the rules are focused on the handful of broadcasters that air foreign government-sponsored programming, without creating burdens for the vast majority of broadcasters that do not air this content. ... We share the goal of ensuring that the public understands when it is watching or listening to foreign propaganda.”

The Communications Workers of America, Free Press, Public Knowledge and almost 250 other groups urged Senate leaders Friday to advance FCC nominee Gigi Sohn to the full chamber “before Congress adjourns” at the beginning of January. Sohn’s confirmation process has been stalled since March but her Hill supporters believe her approval prospects will improve once the Senate returns in November for the lame-duck session (see 2209130065). “We simply cannot have a less-than fully functioning” 2-2 FCC “persist any longer,” the groups said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; and ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss. A five-member FCC is needed “as it begins to deliberate on upcoming critical decisions that will have profound impacts on the economy and the American people.” The “agency will benefit from Ms. Sohn’s involvement as it works to expand work and business opportunities to Americans in unserved and underserved areas” via funding for broadband deployments, the groups said. Free Press Action Policy Director Joshua Stager, meanwhile, criticized Comcast over reports it hired former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to lobby against Sohn’s confirmation. Daschle and Baker Donelson said in July Comcast paid them $30,000 in Q2 to lobby on the “status of FCC nominations,” among other matters. The company previously received criticism for hiring lobbyists at other firms to lobby against Sohn (see 2206030059). “It’s outrageous that such underhanded tactics have kept people without the policies and protections they need to connect and communicate,” Stager said: “Sohn has a well-earned reputation for bipartisanship and consensus-building, which is why she has been endorsed by such a wide array of people and organizations from across the political spectrum.” Comcast didn’t comment.

Big Tech’s digital trade agenda “threatens” consumer privacy, worker safety and anti-disinformation efforts, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., wrote Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Thursday. They requested information about a “revolving door” of high-level hirings between the Commerce Department and Big Tech and the potential impact on global digital trade negotiations. They said the unethical practice of hiring high-level staff from tech and allowing them to influence trade deals behind closed doors hurts workers and consumers. They cited potential impacts on negotiations for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. “We are concerned about the role of these and similar individuals in shaping digital trade policy because Big Tech’s digital trade agenda threatens protections for consumer privacy and worker safety and efforts to combat discrimination, misinformation, and disinformation,” they wrote. The department didn’t comment. Locking rules into the IPEF that don’t respect worker rights and privacy would repeat the same mistakes made in past trade agreements, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said during an American Economic Liberties Project livestream Thursday: “The only thing worse than having a human boss is having an algorithmic boss,” which is the case at Amazon, “one of the richest companies in the history of humanity. “You would think” workers at the company would have a chance to “live out the American dream.” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said in a prepared statement for the event: “We know that corporations will continue to exploit loopholes and craft the rules in their favor.” Both Khanna and Brown cited potential impacts in IPEF negotiations.

DOJ should assess whether legislation is necessary for a central bank digital currency in the U.S. (see 2203090072), Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee wrote Attorney General Merrick Garland Wednesday. They requested an assessment and any related legislative proposal by Oct. 15, in a letter led by ranking member Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., citing President Joe Biden’s executive order on the matter: “The appropriate place for the discussion on whether authorizing legislation is necessary, is in the legislative branch. ... Both Federal Reserve Chairman Powell and Vice Chair Lael Brainard have also testified on the need for authorizing legislation.”

The New Democrat Coalition endorsed the American Data Privacy and Protection Act Tuesday (see 2209290059). Chaired by Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, the coalition said the House Commerce Committee-passed bill will establish a comprehensive, national standard that puts consumers in control of personal information by “limiting data collection and algorithmic harms, strengthening protections for children’s data, and prohibiting discrimination based on personal data.” The coalition has disagreed with other Democrats over tech-related antitrust legislation (see 2107060072).

The National Treasury Employees Union endorsed FCC nominee Gigi Sohn as the Senate adjourned Thursday for a six-week pre-election recess. Sohn’s confirmation process has been stalled since March, but Hill supporters believe her confirmation prospects will improve once the Senate returns in November for the lame-duck session (see 2209130065). The White House is continuing to hold out for a Senate vote on Sohn, but lobbyists told us the Biden administration is considering at least two potential candidates to replace her if she fails to make it through: former acting NTIA Administrator Anna Gomez, ex-Wiley (see 2207010056), and NASA Chief of Staff Susie Perez Quinn. NTEU-affiliated FCC staffers “benefit when there is sound and stable leadership at the agency, and we are concerned with the continued vacancy,” National President Anthony Reardon said in a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. Sohn “is a highly qualified nominee,” knows “the agency well and she would be an excellent member of the Commission. Furthermore, I feel that any further delay in the confirmation of her nomination threatens to inhibit progress at the FCC to the detriment of both the workforce and the American consumer.” It’s “time for the country to allow this Commission and its employees to be fully staffed and functioning,” Reardon said.

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and House Commerce Committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., urged NTIA Friday to encourage streamlining of permitting processes for recipients of money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program. “With inflation already raising costs, we cannot afford to waste time and resources on needless bureaucracy when we should be building networks,” the GOP leaders said in a letter to NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson. “Without action, we worry that deployments will take longer and be more expensive, leaving more Americans on the wrong side of the digital divide.” NTIA should “require states and territories to work with their local governments to streamline permitting processes to expedite and reduce barriers to deployment,” Rodgers and Wicker said: “We are encouraged” that BEAD’s notice of funding opportunity (see 2205130054) “asks states to identify steps to reduce deployment barriers, including streamlined permitting processes, and encourages state and territorial governments to expedite permitting timelines," but “merely encouraging and promoting these actions … is not enough.” NTIA should “require states and territories to work with local governments to adopt streamlining policies that reduce the burdens associated with obtaining permits,” the lawmakers said. The agency “should also set a high bar for the ‘other critical policy goals’ that states and localities can use to justify burdensome permitting regulations so that the exception does not become the rule.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., led filing Thursday of the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act, in a bid to ensure broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act and American Rescue Plan Act doesn’t count as taxable income. The measure would amend the Internal Revenue Code to say broadband grants enacted via either statute don’t count as “gross income.” Every “dollar that was set aside to fund broadband expansion and deployment should be used for that purpose,” Warner said: “Taxing these broadband investments awards would be counter-productive, and could ultimately diminish efforts to give more Americans access to high-speed internet.” Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., is among four other senators who signed on as original co-sponsors. “Taxing broadband grants … will dramatically reduce the impact of these programs and likely leave the hardest-to-reach communities without essential connectivity for even longer,” said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield. “It is critical that all broadband grant funds go toward their intended purpose of network deployment.” Requiring “grant recipients to return as much as 20 percent of those grants in the form of taxes jeopardizes our shared goal of universal connectivity,” said USTelecom Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Brandon Heiner. “It is vital that Congress move to eliminate this tax, as America’s broadband providers carefully plan and prepare to allocate resources to connect as many Americans as possible." Warner’s office also cited support from WTA.

The House voted 242-184 Thursday to pass the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act (HR-3843) (see 2209260060). It initially passed by voice vote, but House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, called for an official count. The bill raises fees for larger transactions and lowers the fee for small and medium deals, ensuring the FTC and DOJ receive fair compensation for their merger reviews, said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., on the floor Thursday. Jordan said the estimated $140 million annually for each agency will result in more unnecessary government bureaucracy and politically driven harassment. Public Knowledge welcomed the vote. “For many years, antitrust enforcers feared that Congress would cut their funding if they did too much to protect consumers and promote a healthy marketplace,” said Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman. “Now Congress speaks clearly on antitrust: The strategy of underenforcement is over.”