Protesters Disrupt House Markup of Budget Bill Addressing Spectrum, AI

WASHINGTON, May 13, 2025 – Protesters were forcibly removed from a heated House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Tuesday as lawmakers began marking up their portion of the reconciliation budget bill, which includes sweeping provisions on artificial intelligence regulation and spectrum policy.

While the markup was dominated by partisan clashes over proposed Medicaid cuts, controversial communications measures that would block state and local governments from regulating AI systems until 2035 and reauthorize the FCC’s expired spectrum auction authority went largely unaddressed.

Committee Chair Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., was the only member to speak on the provisions, at the time of publication, defending them in his opening remarks. “We’re implementing guardrails that protect against state-level AI laws that could jeopardize our technological leadership,” Guthrie said. “And our legislation will raise $88 billion in new revenue through a historic agreement reauthorizing the Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum auction authority.”

The telecommunications section of the bill, backed by Republicans, sets a $88 billion revenue target from future FCC spectrum auctions and would allocate $500 million to the Commerce Department to modernize and secure federal IT systems through artificial intelligence, automation, and cybersecurity upgrades.

Though the committee had yet to begin formal votes on most of the communications provisions by early Tuesday evening, industry reactions were swift, particularly from groups concerned about the bill’s treatment of shared-use spectrum.

Broadband providers, consumer advocates, and cable industry representatives voiced alarm that the proposal omits protections for the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), a shared 3.5 GigaHertz (GHz) band used by the U.S. military, small ISPs, manufacturers, private networks, and schools.

While the bill explicitly protects the 6 GHz Wi-Fi band from future auction, CBRS was left out. Advocates say the omission could result in the reclassification or auctioning off the band for exclusive use.

“Leaving CBRS at risk not only undermines the band’s progress, but also the broader promise of shared spectrum models,” said David Zumwalt, president and CEO of WISPA, which represents small and rural broadband providers, in a statement. “Over 60% of WISPA members use CBRS to deliver high-quality broadband to hard-to-serve and previously unserved Americans.”

The group Spectrum for the Future, a coalition of anchor institutions and tech companies, called CBRS an “American success story” and warned that reauctioning it would “strip hundreds of private businesses and innovators of their licenses after they’ve invested billions of dollars.”

Although formal debate on the communications provisions remained pending late Tuesday, Guthrie signaled the markup would continue into Wednesday. “We’re going to do this in four different prints,” he said, referring to the committee’s approach to handling Energy, Environment, Communications, and Health policy separately.

As of 6 p.m., the committee had rejected four proposed amendments to the energy section and advanced that title on a party-line vote of 29-25. Lawmakers had just begun discussing environment-related provisions as the session stretched into the late evening.

The healthcare title, containing the proposed Medicaid cuts that were at the center of concerns raised by protestors, many of which were disabled individuals in wheelchairs and scooters, had also yet to be taken up.

As the markup continues, pressure has mounted from industry groups and digital rights advocates to revise the bill’s spectrum and AI provisions before it moves forward.