Trump, Hill GOP Victories Create Opening for Unified Telecom Action as President-Elect Eyes Infrastructure

"I've just received a call from Secretary [of State] Clinton," Trump told supporters at 2:50 a.m. "She congratulated us ... on our victory." He called for unity. Clinton didn't speak Tuesday night. “They’re still counting votes, and every vote should count,” John Podesta, chairman of Clinton's campaign, told backers after 2 a.m. Wednesday, urging them to go home. “We’re not going to have anything more to say tonight.”

The Trump campaign website now newly says that telecom should be included as part of his $1 trillion infrastructure funding package, which he wants to advance before Congress in the first 100 days of his administration. Trump never mentioned telecom last month when describing the proposal nor did his campaign comment when asked. The campaign now clarifies the plan would “create thousands of new jobs” to build infrastructure including telecom. The website was undergoing major changes Tuesday night, preventing access to news releases and certain past campaign documents.

"We're going to rebuild our infrastructure," with "millions of people" going to work and making it "second to none," Trump said in his election victory speech.

The shift in presidential power means a potential mandate for Republicans if the Capitol Hill majority and the White House can unite behind telecom policy objectives. GOP control of the Senate makes it likely that Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who handily won his own re-election bid, will continue to chair the Commerce Committee next Congress. Thune, who sponsored bipartisan measures on spectrum and FCC reauthorization this Congress, repeatedly mentioned this summer wanting to take on an overhaul of the 1996 Telecom Act, a shared goal among all known House Republicans, including Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., who will be competing to lead the House Commerce Committee next Congress.

Trump has outlined little on telecom and tech policy, unlike Clinton, as previously reported in this publication. Industry observers have long struggled to imagine what exactly his FCC and administration policy in these areas would be. He has stressed cutting federal regulations, including a temporary moratorium on most new ones, and opposed AT&T’s proposed purchase of Time Warner (see our bulletin on Oct. 26). His campaign website offered views on cybersecurity and this fall's Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition. Hill Republicans including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Shimkus told us this fall that Trump should look to Congress to fill in gaps.

Republican Senate Commerce members won most and perhaps will win all toss-up bids they faced this cycle. No candidate had conceded in the race between Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan by morning. Ayotte had an slim lead of three tenths of a percentage point, with 94 percent reporting. Rubio, an ally to the wireless industry with a focus on spectrum reallocation and wireless siting, beat Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., 52.1 to 44.2 percent. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a critic of the FCC net neutrality rulemaking process and a prominent voice on cybersecurity as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, won by about three points against former Sen. Russ Feingold. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a frequent broadcaster ally, won a tough contest (see report in the Nov. 3 issue) against Jason Kander, the Missouri secretary of state who conceded in the early a.m. hours, by about three points.

Other Commerce Committee members up on Tuesday faced little struggle. They included Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and all the members of the House Commerce’s Communications Subcommittee up for re-election. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., both won their re-election bids, as expected, as did Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a progressive on telecom, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., active on surveillance and privacy issues. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., a key appropriator overseeing the FCC, won his bid by more than 20 points. Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Rob Portman, R-Ohio, once seen as vulnerable, beat his opponent Ted Strickland by nearly 20 points. Portman has backed the subcommittee investigation into pay-TV issues. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., bested Deborah Ross, a former American Civil Liberties Union attorney, 51 to 45 percent. Burr was a leader this Congress in the encryption debate and legislatively examined how companies must comply with government orders to decrypt data.

Next year will showcase some Hill newcomers with telecom expertise. The incoming Senate will include Chris Van Hollen, the Democratic Disclose Act House sponsor who easily won the open Maryland seat, and Kamala Harris, California’s tech-focused attorney general who won that state’s open seat. Former FCC aide Josh Gottheimer, who worked under then-Chairman Julius Genachowski, eked out a House victory, unseating Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., in New Jersey’s 5th District 51 to 47 percent.

Among other races, Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., the sponsor of the Kelsey Smith Act and active on email privacy, held onto his 3rd District seat. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., had a slight lead over Democrat Doug Applegate in the 49th District of California. Trump had backed Issa. There was no clear winner yet declared in that Tuesday contest. Law professor Zephyr Teachout, who touted broadband policy goals and opposed AT&T/Time Warner, lost by close to 10 points in her bid to take out Rep. John Faso, R-N.Y. Challenger Ro Khanna, a Democrat, bested Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., for the 17th District seat by 20 points. California allows candidates of the same party to compete against one another in the general election if they receive the most votes in the primary.