Lobbying

On March 25, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to request that the Department of Defense turn over any Biden-era documents referring to the Federal Communications Commission's spectrum auction authority. In the letter, Sen Cruz details allegations that Biden-era DOD officials pressured defense contractors to lobby against reauthorizing auction authority.

On March 5th, 16 National Digital Inclusion Alliance affiliates from across the country, half of the NDIA team, and several of NDIA’s partners spent the day on Capitol Hill to share with Congress how NDIA’s 2,000 affiliates help people in their districts get and stay online safely. In total, we had 65 meetings with staff from the Senate and House offices of 23 states.

Elon Musk appears to be laying the groundwork to privatize some space and satellite operations now under the authority of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or steer lucrative contracts toward his SpaceX and Starlink companies, former NOAA employees say. They’re sounding the alarm as at least four other federal agencies have reportedly begun pushing new contracts toward Musk’s Starlink satellite internet company. Musk, the world’s richest man, has been tasked by President Donald Trump with drastically slashing the federal government workforce and costs.

Within the Trump administration’s Defense Department, Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocketry is being trumpeted as the nifty new way the Pentagon could move military cargo rapidly around the globe. In the Commerce Department, SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service will now be fully eligible for the federal government’s $42 billion rural broadband push, after being largely shut out during the Biden era. At NASA, after repeated nudges by Mr. Musk, the agency is being squeezed to turn its focus to Mars, allowing SpaceX to pursue federal contracts to deliver the first humans to the distant planet.

Elon Musk’s Starlink is set to cement its dominance of the satellite internet market with a surge in revenues in 2025, but the world’s richest man’s ties to President Donald Trump are shifting from an asset to a hindrance in Starlink's global rollout. The billionaire’s SpaceX group is engaged in talks to rapidly bring the service to countries with 1 billion potential new users, including holding negotiations with Turkey, Morocco and Bangladesh, while making progress towards regulatory approval in other vast markets such as India.

Donald Trump’s commerce secretary touted Elon Musk’s Starlink to federal officials in charge of a $42 billion rural broadband programme, raising new questions about the billionaire White House adviser’s conflicts of interest. In a private meeting in the Herbert Hoover building near the White House, Secretary Howard Lutnick told civil servants at the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) programme to increase the project’s use of satellite connectivity — over fibre-optic cable — and singled out Musk’s provider, Starlink.

Starlink, the satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is now accessible across the White House campus. It is the latest installation of the Wi-Fi network across the government since Mr. Musk joined the Trump administration as an unpaid adviser. It was not immediately clear when the White House complex was fitted with Starlink after President Trump took office for a second term. Starlink terminals, rectangular panels that receive internet signals beamed from SpaceX satellites in low-Earth orbit, can be placed on physical structures.

CTIA, the wireless industry association, announced that Ajit Pai has been named President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1. Pai will join CTIA from Searchlight Capital Partners. He will replace Meredith Attwell Baker, who announced her retirement in December and has served in the role since 2014. Prior to joining Searchlight Capital Partners in 2021, Pai served in senior leadership roles in the Federal Communications Commission for almost a decade.

The jarring prominence of tech CEOs at President Donald Trump’s inauguration—positioned, as many noted, in front of Trump’s Cabinet picks—represents a massive sea change in American business and its cultural politics. The tech world’s turn to the right post-election has captivated anyone who watched these companies serve as a GOP punching bag for the past several years. There are plenty of good business reasons for any billionaire to want

President Joe Biden used his final address from the Oval Office to deliver a somber warning about the threat posed by the “dangerous concentration of power” in the hands of wealthy and well-connected individuals, a thinly veiled reference to billionaire technology executives who have been increasingly signaling their desire to work closely with President-elect Donald Trump. “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” President B