ICYMI: CfG’s “America First Spectrum Allocation”

Will Mitola  |   January 23, 2025

Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, Club for Growth President David McIntosh sent a letter to Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) and House Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) urging them to include a provision to develop a fair and free-market approach to United States spectrum allocation in the upcoming reconciliation bill. Politico’s Morning Tech published an exclusive report on the letter.

 

Click here to read the full letter from Club for Growth President David McIntosh.

Click here to read the full reporting from Politico’s John Hendel.

 

POLITICO EXCERPT:

FIRST IN MT: AN ‘AMERICA FIRST’ SPECTRUM PLAN — The Club for Growth is pushing top Hill Republicans to prioritize spectrum provisions as part of the forthcoming budget reconciliation proposal — and the conservative organization has ideas for what spectrum auction provisions should look like to thread the needle amid thorny competing equities.

— The idea: Club for Growth President David McIntosh outlined his thinking in a letter Tuesday to Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), both of whom recently told John they’re looking at how to fold spectrum provisions into the reconciliation package.

McIntosh urges these GOP chairs “to champion a new method of auctioning spectrum — a dual-track approach that allows two simultaneous auctions, one for exclusive use and the other for shared use. The auction that generates the best net revenue for taxpayers would win.”

McIntosh argued that Cruz and Guthrie can deliver on “an America First spectrum policy” and warned against conceding to “special interests” that may want sales giving winners exclusive-access spectrum licenses. That scenario, he argued, may “increase costs, stifle growth, and could force the Pentagon to disrupt military preparedness and waste hundreds of billions of dollars moving off its current spectrum frequencies.”

The Club doesn’t receive funding from telecom interests, per a spox.

— Fight behind the scenes: The wireless industry has urged Congress to aggressively free up spectrum for the private sector, although given the stakes for the military (which holds a lot of these frequencies), some Pentagon allies on the Hill are hesitant to see Republicans tackle spectrum in reconciliation at all.

The next stage for the debate will likely be Thursday, when the House Energy and Commerce’s telecom subcommittee holds a hearing on wireless technology.

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