By Jericho Casper – 05/14/25
WASHINGTON, May 14, 2025 – At nearly 1 a.m. Wednesday, House Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee passed communications provisions as part of a broader reconciliation budget package, defeating a series of Democratic amendments that would have redirected spectrum auction revenue toward broadband affordability, public safety, and cybersecurity initiatives.
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The communications title was ultimately approved without being altered by a vote of 29–24, advancing to the next stage of the Republicans’ broader reconciliation package.
The Energy and Commerce Committee’s markup of its contributions to the reconciliation package began on Tuesday afternoon, ran through the night, and into Wednesday afternoon without pause, despite multiple attempts by Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., to adjourn. As of noon on Wednesday, lawmakers were still debating the healthcare title.
Of nearly 22 continuous hours of proceedings, the communications provisions occupied roughly three hours.
Part of the Committee’s communications title was a provision that would block state and local governments from regulating artificial intelligence for the next decade. The measure was pushed through unaltered, despite an amendment introduced by Pallone to remove it.
$88 billion to come auctioning 600 megahertz of spectrum
Under the budget plan unveiled Sunday night, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., said he wanted the Federal Communications Commission to raise $88 billion over the next nine years by auctioning off at least 600 megahertz of spectrum. The projected revenues would flow to the U.S. Treasury.
Of note, the spectrum provisions may face additional scrutiny in the Senate. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had originally called for a 2,500 megahertz spectrum pipeline — a far more aggressive approach than the 600 megahertz auction authorized in the current House bill.
But House Democrats unsuccessfully pushed for the spectrum auction revenues to be redirected to public programs.
Congress has, on occasion, directed spectrum auction revenues toward public priorities. Most notably, the 2012 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act allocated $7 billion in auction proceeds to fund FirstNet, a nationwide public safety broadband network for first responders.
“Spectrum auctions are projected to generate $88 billion for the federal government. That’s a staggering amount of money that we should use to invest in public safety, digital equity and essential services for the American people,” Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., said.
Allocating funds from public airwaves
Democrats offered a series of amendments to reinvest a portion of the spectrum proceeds into Next Generation 911 upgrades, broadband affordability, and cybersecurity safeguards, but each was voted down along party lines.
“Republicans have abandoned their commitments to fund critical public safety upgrades with spectrum proceeds,” said Pallone. “Spectrum is a public resource of which the government is a steward, so it’s only reasonable to think that revenues raised by its sale or lease should fund priorities that serve the public interest.”
Democrats said Republicans were using a windfall from auctioning public airwaves to offset tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit high-income individuals.
While the spectrum provision itself does not enact any tax cuts or name direct beneficiaries, the $88 billion in projected revenue would be deposited into the U.S. Treasury and used to offset other provisions in the reconciliation package, including the GOP’s proposed extensions of 2017 tax policies passed during the first Trump administration.
Democrats concerned over lack of protections for CBRS
Beyond the fight over where spectrum proceeds should go, some lawmakers raised concerns about what spectrum might be auctioned off.
While the reconciliation proposal explicitly excludes the military’s lower 3 GigaHertz (GHz) band and the unlicensed 6 GHz Wi-Fi band from future auctions, it offers no such protection for the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) – a shared-use band relied on by the U.S. military, small ISPs, schools, manufacturers, and precision agriculture operators.
Some broadband providers, consumer advocates, and cable industry representatives have voiced alarm about the provision, echoed by E&C Democrats.
“Jamming a bill through that could kick all current users off the CBRS band when we have had only 36 hours to review the bill’s text, and only one spectrum hearing this Congress, is reckless and risks causing real harm,” said Doris Matsui, D-Calif.
Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., also voiced concern on how the provision could affect CBRS. Yet no amendments were offered on the CBRS issue before the vote.
Efforts to redirect spectrum funding
All told, Democrats introduced four amendments to redirect a portion of the $88 billion in projected spectrum auction revenue toward public benefit programs. Each was rejected on a party-line vote of 24–29.
Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., offered an amendment to use FCC spectrum proceeds to fund the Next Generation 911 program.
“Emergency call centers lack modern 21st century communication infrastructure,” Carter said. “In the next generation, the ability to transmit live video to first responders en route to an emergency is an extraordinary step for public safety.”
But Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., pushed back on the amendment.
“It’s no secret our 911 technology is outdated. Some systems are even half a decade old,” Hudson said. “Next Generation 911 is a top priority, but it’s important we make sure we have an accurate number of dollars to appropriate for this technology… There’s no doubt the number we need to appropriate has changed, and I want to get this right.”
Colloquy on the Affordable Connectivity Program
Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., offered an amendment proposing using a portion of the proceeds to reestablish the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provided internet subsidies to low-income households before funding lapsed in May 2024.
Hudson opposed Clarke’s amendment: “Congress should not restart the ACP until we can all agree on reforms to the program,” he said.
“We have a dedicated, permanent funding source that helps our most vulnerable populations participate in the 21st-century economy,” Hudson said, referring to the FCC’s Lifeline program, “we’re happy to work with the other side of the aisle on changes to it.”
Cybersecurity amendment dismissed as ‘political’
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., put forward an amendment requiring that Cabinet secretaries receive cybersecurity training before additional spectrum is auctioned, citing recent state-sponsored cyberattacks, like Salt Typhoon, and warning of growing threats to U.S. networks.
Hudson also pushed back on Matsui’s amendment. “We take threats to the security of our communications infrastructure seriously. However, this amendment has more to do with politics than our national security.”
Potential conflicts of interest
Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Va., introduced an amendment in line with Democrats’ concerns of potential conflicts of interest under the Trump administration.
“Spectrum auction proceeds should not be used to line the pockets of the President, government officials, or special officials like Elon Musk,” McClellan said.
“I’m not sure this is our jurisdiction,” Hudson replied.
BEAD also discussed during the markup
Several Republicans also used the hearing as an opportunity to criticize the Biden administration’s management of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, arguing that burdensome regulations and delays have prevented a single dollar from connecting homes.
“I’ll tell you, the BEAD program [has] a lot of money,” Hudson said. “Not one penny has been spent to lay one inch of fiber though. We need to get that money deployed. And I’ve offered a bipartisan solution, called ‘SPEED for BEAD’, and I would encourage my colleagues to take a look at that.”
“We’re still waiting for the largest broadband investment in our nation’s history to connect a single home,” echoed Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind. “The Biden administration added unnecessary and costly requirements on labor and climate change and unlawfully forced the states to regulate broadband plans. Even liberals like Ezra Klein and Jon Stewart agree that the Biden administration mismanaged this program.”
But Democrats pushed back on the Biden-was-slow-to-implement-BEAD narrative.
“We’re ready to go,” said Dingell. “Now Republicans are going to take time to restart the process all over again. And yet they complain about the length, even though the reason it took so long was to avoid waste, fraud, and abuse.”
“My state is a real-life example of a BEAD program that was stopped in its tracks,” said Carter, the Democrat of Louisiana. “Louisiana was ready to go. The Trump administration halted it. So don’t say that nothing has happened. Louisiana is a perfect example of a state that did everything right. We began under a Democratic governor and completed under a Republican governor.”
“Republicans and Democrats both recognize that this was a great program. Our Republican governor, Jeff Landry, hailed and heralded this program, and was ready to go. But, the program was halted within moments of completion,” said Carter.