New Council on National Security Bolsters the FCC’s Arsenal against China

Cyber attacks and data breaches have dotted headlines in recent years, costing  individuals, firms, and government entities $452.3 billion in 2024 alone. As a result, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is working to fortify American telecommunications networks and counter foreign adversaries’ cyber aggression.

This focus has led to the creation of a new Council on National Security within the Commission. As the Council finds its footing, industry and civil society would be well-served by engaging with the Council and working to support its development and role within the Commission. 

The creation of the Council is welcome, as bad actors continue to exploit vulnerabilities in American networks and devices to surveil and steal from US businesses and citizens. Chairman Carr’s vision for the Council is as an orchestrator of actions within the Commission. The Council will serve as a central node for addressing policy matters at the intersection of technological innovation and national security. 

When he announced the Council’s creation, Chairman Carr specified three goals he sought to achieve. The first is strengthening and securing technology and telecommunications supply chains. Insulating technological supply chains broadly from potential vulnerabilities has become a focus over the past decade in response to technical vulnerabilities in products from Chinese and Russian firms that can enable cyber espionage.

Chinese laws require foreign technology firms to partner with local affiliates, who are then beholden to the Chinese Communist Party intelligence apparatus. This has enabled such local affiliates to engage in pervasive intellectual property theft and forced transfer, as well as creating untold vulnerabilities within multinational organizations and supply chains. 

In response to this threat, Congress passed the Secure and Trusted Networks Act of 2019, which enabled the FCC to blacklist firms whose products posed a national security risk by providing telecommunications equipment on the American market. Products and services from firms such as Huawei, China Telecom, and Kaspersky, all of which have vulnerabilities that have been and continue to be exploited by foreign adversaries and state-aligned hacker groups, are covered by the list. The council is already undertaking a review of existing firms on the covered list to ensure that equipment from such firms is not still being used within the United States and to identify potential leakage of such equipment in the future. 

The second goal is securing America from cyber threats. In the aftermath of Volt and Salt Typhoon—major cyberattacks against US critical infrastructure and private telecom networks that revealed how our telecommunications networks are being targeted by foreign adversaries and state-aligned hacker groups— taking a proactive approach to securing various layers of the telecommunications stack is vital. Beyond removing insecure hardware from domestic telco networks, the commission is working to ensure that submarine cable systems, arteries of digital traffic worldwide, are secure.

The FCC’s recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on submarine cable licensing changes focuses on identifying potential weaknesses in existing infrastructure, licensing and financing operations. The Council will be able to provide guidance on questions related to reviewing the funding structure of cable license holders and adjusting regulations covering the security of equipment within cables and cable landing stations, among other areas of inquiry. This proceeding is an opportunity for relevant stakeholders to engage with the Commission and the new Council on policies that govern infrastructure vital to information access and security. 

The third and final goal of Chairman Carr’s effort is winning the tech race against the People’s Republic of China. Since its early actions against Huawei and China Telecom, the FCC has been central to US efforts to counter China’s influence in telecommunications and digital technologies.

Beyond the creation and management of the covered entity list, the Commission has asked for recommendations on ways to reduce regulatory burdens on firms and investors to help promote American networks and services. This includes supporting new technologies to deliver internet connectivity, such as low earth orbit broadband constellations and fixed wireless service, while also laying the foundation for 6G, the next generation of wireless networking, enabling autonomous vehicles, the internet of things, and smart cities. These technologies have been identified by the CCP as keys to raising their profile as a global leader in technology development and diffusion. 

As the nation’s telecommunications regulator, the FCC has experience crafting policies that advance the national interest when it comes to questions of technological innovation and national security. Issues such as electromagnetic spectrum management, broadcast ownership rules, and device certification all have national security implications that require domestic and international collaboration. 

The FCC’s new Council on National Security will help the Commission articulate a consistent strategy on matters concerning technological innovation, telecommunications, and national security. While the FCC is not and should not be regulating what happens on the internet, it does have a role to play in ensuring the underlying infrastructure that Americans rely on is not vulnerable to nefarious actors, regardless of their nationality.

The Council on National Security can provide context-specific guidance on how individual actions fit into achieving the three goals laid out by Chairman Carr. Such a body is in a position to help achieve bipartisan goals and bring flexibility and energy to an agency that is responsible for leading on some of the nation’s most pressing policy questions. This presents an opportunity for policy entrepreneurs, telecom stalwarts, and China experts to support the creation of new state capacity at the FCC focused on winning the technological competition with the CCP and other peer adversaries

Joshua Levine is a Research Fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation. His work focuses on policies that foster digital competition and interoperability in digital markets, online expression, and emerging technologies. Before joining FAI, Josh was a Technology and Innovation Policy Analyst at the American Action Forum, where he focused on competition in digital markets, data privacy, and artificial intelligence. This Expert Opinion is exclusive to Broadband Breakfast.

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