Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Commerce Committee lawmakers soon will start determining specifics of Commerce subcommittees. He will chair the Commerce Committee in the next Congress and told reporters at the Capitol Tuesday that sorting out those committee details will dominate much of his coming two weeks. “With Republican and Democrat senators now named to the Commerce Committee, the subcommittee selection process will begin, enabling the committee to be formalized as early as the first full week of January, after the 114th Congress convenes,” Thune said in a statement Monday. A news release included all the Republicans and Democrats in the 114th Congress (see 1412150052), and Thune cited Internet policy and consumer protection among his priorities. He told us he sees a strong role for the Communications Subcommittee (see 1412120057).

The FCC’s ongoing AWS-3 spectrum auction is “the most successful wireless spectrum auction ever, a sign of the tremendous potential that stands to be unleashed as a result of these steps,” the White House said Tuesday. Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Jason Furman wrote a blog post focused on the economy in 2014 and mentioned the auction when describing how the Obama administration seeks to catalyze technological innovation. “The President signed into law the most sweeping patent reform in decades, made significant investments in research and development, and will nearly double the amount of wireless spectrum available for mobile broadband,” Furman said.

Antitrust law can work “in tandem” with FCC rules to protect net neutrality, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler countered in a Dec. 9 letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. Goodlatte had written in opposition to net neutrality rules. “We must take the time to get the job done correctly, once and for all,” Wheeler said, stressing that the FCC is keeping multiple options of legal authority on the table.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., introduced a bill on robocalls Friday, fated to go nowhere this Congress since the House has already recessed. The legislation (S-3010) would “improve the enforcement of prohibitions on robocalls, including fraudulent robocalls,” according to its longer title. The bill’s text wasn't online and McCaskill hadn't issued a news release about it. The legislation has no co-sponsors and has been referred to the Commerce Committee. McCaskill is a member of Commerce, chairing the Consumer Protection Subcommittee and is a member of the Communications Subcommittee. The Senate will remain in session for initial days this week to finish a few business items in the 113th Congress.

Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter congratulated Congress in a news release Monday for extending the Internet Tax Freedom Act through Sept. 30. “Congress must now bring certainty to consumers early next year and pass legislation to keep Internet access services free from state and local taxes permanently as well as ensure that e-commerce is not burdened by discriminatory and unfair taxes,” said Spalter. The ITFA extension was included in Congress’ bicameral funding bill, which passed Saturday.

The Senate signed off on the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (HR-83) in a 56-40 vote Saturday night. The House had passed the omnibus funding package Thursday. It would slate money for 11 of the 12 parts of the government through FY2015, including $340 million for the FCC. Funding had initially expired Thursday, then Saturday and now lasts through Wednesday. Congress has passed two short-term continuing resolutions to keep the government funded. The Senate vote was not along party lines, with 31 Democrats and 24 Republicans backing the measure and 21 Democrats and 18 Republicans opposing it. Four senators didn't vote, and one independent voted for it while one opposed it. The package includes several telecom provisions (see 1412100041) and would extend the Internet Tax Freedom Act for one year, compel a report from the FCC about call completion problems and force the agency to clarify the waiver process for broadcaster joint sales agreements. The White House tentatively backs the package but the president hadn't yet signed it as of our deadline.

Democrats will lose one member on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the next Congress, according to a roster circulated among industry officials Friday. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, is not listed under Judiciary in that roster. Other Judiciary Democrats will remain. The committee has 10 Democrats now and will have nine. Among other changes in the next Congress, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., will become the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Aging, which occasionally has dealt with telecom issues. The top Democrat on that committee now is Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who will become ranking member of Commerce. Hirono became a senator last year.

CEA hailed Senate passage of legislation (S-2791) exempting for four years external power supplies from energy conservation rules set by the Department of Energy in February. External power supplies will be exempt from DOE rules if they’re manufactured between Feb. 10, 2016, and Feb. 10, 2020, the text of S-2791 says. "We applaud the Senate’s passage of this important technical amendment, which recognizes the need for replacement chargers for products manufactured before the effective date of DOE’s latest regulation," said Doug Johnson, CEA vice president-technology policy, in a statement Friday. External power supplies "are used with a wide range of consumer electronics -- laptops and tablets, printers and routers, and cordless telephones -- and this bill will facilitate warranty and contract compliance by manufacturers, as well as manufacturer compliance with state parts retention laws," Johnson said.

Pennsylvania’s two senators asked the FCC to act quickly to approve Comcast’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable. Comcast is based in Pennsylvania. “While we appreciate your commitment to a full, thorough review, we urge the Commission to act as quickly as possible,” Sens. Bob Casey, D, and Pat Toomey, R, said in a letter to the FCC Thursday. “We believe the merger between Comcast and Time Warner will produce extensive benefits to the public in terms of jobs and services for low-income households.” Comcast had informed the senators of many different benefits, they said.

The House and Senate passed the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act (S-1353), the fifth cybersecurity bill to pass Congress last week. The bill, originally floated last year but passed Thursday in a pared-back form, codifies the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s authority to develop voluntary cybersecurity standards. NIST released the Version 1.0 Cybersecurity Framework in February and has since sought stakeholder input on how they're using the framework. Obama is likely to sign S-1353 along with four other cybersecurity bills that mostly focused on cybersecurity work within the Department of Homeland Security, an industry lobbyist told us. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson praised Congress Thursday for passing the four DHS-centric cybersecurity bills, which included the National Cybersecurity Protection Act (S-2519).