Change is in the Air in D.C.

David Gray

December 13, 2024

Barricade on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House where the Inaugural parade viewing stand is under construction

Change is in the air in Washington in the final weeks of 2024. On Wednesday evening, I arrived on the Amtrak Northeast Regional to bone-chilling and windy weather. On my way to have dinner with Jillian Gray, I walked past the White House, which was decorated for Christmas and which already has a large Inaugural parade viewing stand under construction on Pennsylvania Avenue. On Thursday I attended Breakfast Media LLC's "Broadband Breakfast" forum, a day-long session which delved into anticipated broadband policy changes in the second Trump administration. Since the election there’s been a good amount of speculation in the trades over likely policy shifts. Frankly there was no shortage of speculation today either, though key themes and details are emerging. In her opening remarks U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) identified 3 key Republican priorities in the new year, including regulatory rollback, reinstatement of spectrum auction authority at the FCC, and a fresh look at BEAD. On a subsequent panel, representatives from the state broadband offices of New York, Maryland and Michigan pushed back on FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr's recent assertions about BEAD "sustainability." They all advocated for a technology-agnostic approach in serving harder-to-reach locations.  Later Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH) spoke in terms of some of the specific questions and concerns he has about BEAD, as well as some of the regulatory changes he expects to see. In her keynote, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (R-MN) warned that SCOTUS' recent ruling which ended the 'Chevron deference' will create challenges and inconsistencies in federal rules. It was a well-organized and very interesting day of policy discussion with four excellent panels and multiple presentations from key policy makers and administrators. Great job, Drew Clark and team.