Politico

Federal Communications Commissioner Mike O’Rielly declared on Twitter that the speech he’ll be making virtually at CTIA 5G summit will be his “last speech at @FCC, covering various aspects of spectrum policy.” While it’s long been known that the GOP commissioner will have to step down by year’s end, his exact departure date remains unclear. What is now apparent: he’ll be dialing down the volume in the final days of his term.

The US Chamber of Commerce, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, and others asked the Supreme Court to hear an appeal by Comcast on when courts can force a monopoly to do business with its rivals.

A fast-rising pressure campaign is emerging to push the Senate to speedily confirm — by December’s end — Commerce Department adviser Nathan Simington to fill the Federal Communications Commission seat now held by Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. (O’Rielly will have to depart by year’s end.) That timeline is lightning-fast for the Senate, considering President Donald Trump only nominated Simington about a month ago.

Apparently, the Trump administration is pressuring Republican Senators to ratchet up scrutiny of social media companies it sees as biased against conservatives in the run-up to the Nov 2020 election. In recent weeks, the White House has pressed Senate Republican leaders on key committees to hold public hearings on the law that protects Facebook, Twitter and other internet companies from lawsuits over how they treat user posts. And action is following.

Six senior officials at the US Agency for Global Media have filed a whistleblower complaint with the State Department’s inspector general and the US Office of Special Counsel, alleging that they were retaliated against for raising concerns about the new political leadership installed earlier in 2020 by President Donald Trump. The 32-page complaint accuses top officials at the taxpayer-funded media group of abusing their authority, violating the law and mismanaging the organization.

The Department of Labor explicitly named 5G wireless network building as a goal when recently designating the Wireless Infrastructure Association as an industry intermediary to help train wireless workers — something that the association has long clamored for amid plans to spend millions of dollars on the effort.