Brian Fung

Officials from the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission have expressed serious concerns about a draft Trump administration executive order seeking to regulate tech giants, according to several people familiar with the matter. In a closed-door meeting in July, officials from the two agencies met to discuss the matter with a Commerce Department office that advises the White House on telecommunications, the people said. A key issue raised in the meeting was the possibility the Trump administration's plan may be unconstitutional, one of the people said.

Apparently, a draft executive order from the White House could put the Federal Communications Commission in charge of shaping how Facebook, Twitter, and other large tech companies curate what appears on their websites. A summary of the draft order calls for the FCC to develop new regulations clarifying how and when the law protects social media websites when they decide to remove or suppress content on their platforms.

Sprint and T-Mobile's on-again-off-again $26 billion merger appears to be on again, leaving the combined company poised to become the second-largest wireless provider in the country. Pending all parties agree on concessions, the Justice Department will approve the deal by the end of the week of June 17 or beginning the week of June 24, apparently. The concessions would likely include the sale of Boost Mobile, Sprint's discount, pay-as-you-go wireless service. However, negotiations are still ongoing and the Department of Justice is prepared to litigate if the negotiations fall through.

A Q&A Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidentional nomination.

A new executive order from the White House will aim to make federal research funding for colleges and universities contingent on their support for “free speech,” President Donald Trump said. The announcement, during Trump’s address to the Conservative Political Action Conference, appeared to target complaints by some university critics that institutions of higher education stifle right-wing viewpoints.

President Donald Trump urged wireless technology companies to step up their efforts to build next-generation data networks. The President tweeted, "I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible. It is far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind. There is no reason that we should be lagging behind on something that is so obviously the future," he continued. "I want the United States to win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies.

A new report from Cisco says that by 2022, fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks will power as many as 9 percent of mobile data connections across North America, compared with 4 percent in Asia. The report underscores the substantial work that countries like China face as they seek to out-develop Western nations.

Members of Congress are fed up with the state of cellphone coverage in the United States and they weren’t afraid to lodge their complaints personally — with the leaders of some of the country’s biggest wireless networks. As Sprint and T-Mobile went to Capitol Hill to defend their $26 billion proposed merger, lawmakers buttonholed T-Mobile’s chief executive, John Legere, and Sprint’s executive chairman, Marcelo Claure, on the frustrating inability to get a cell signal in many parts of the country, particularly in rural areas.

At a time of dysfunction in Washington, there’s at least one thing in this town that still runs like butter: The revolving door. Barely eight months after stepping down from the Federal Communications Commission, Mignon Clyburn has announced T-Mobile is paying her for advice on the company’s $26 billion merger with Sprint. The former commissioner won’t be lobbying for the deal, nor will she be visiting her old colleagues at the FCC.

Here’s what to expect as the fight over network neutrality enters its next act.