FCC Chief of Staff: Network Protection Core to America's National Security

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2025 — Scott Delacourt, chief of staff at the Federal Communications Commission, said the agency is strengthening national security safeguards across U.S. telecommunications networks as emerging technologies like artificial intelligence accelerate demand for faster, more secure infrastructure.

Speaking at the Federalist Society’s “New Legal Frontiers in a High-Tech World” forum, a conservative and libertarian legal organization, Delacourt said the FCC’s statutory role in protecting national security is embedded in the Communications Act, which gives the agency authority over telecom ownership, equipment authorization and network licensing.

He said those powers form the legal basis for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, which bars the use of federal funds to buy or maintain telecom equipment from companies considered national security threats, and the Secure Equipment Act, which blocks new FCC authorizations for hardware made by those same high-risk firms.