FCC Chairman Ajit Pai

On March 21, 2020 Reps Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Mike Doyle (D-PA) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to urge the FCC to immediately loosen requirements of the Rural Health Care Program (RHCP) to expand eligibility to more healthcare facilities. They wrote, "Following Hurricane Katrina, the FCC loosened restrictions on the RHCP to allow non-rural providers to apply for support under the program.

On May 7, 2020, several Members of Congress wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to express deep concern about the FCC's approval of Ligado Networks request to modify licenses. "The national security community was unanimous in the judgement that approval of the use of certain portions of the L band spectrum could pose an unacceptable risk to the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the United States.

On April 15, 2020, 19 senators wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to urge the FCC to immediately call on telecommunications providers serving law enforcement facilities across the nation to provide free phone calls and video visitations to incarcerated and detained individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

On April 27, 2020, a group of representatives, led by Congressional Native American Caucus Co-Chairs Deb Haaland (D-NM) and Tom Cole (R-OK), wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging the FCC to "grant Tribal Nations and their eligible tribal entities an emergency Special Temporary Authority (STA) to employ the use, on a secondary non-interference basis, of 2.5 GHz spectrum and other efficient, available, and cost effective spectrum on all tribal lands to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic and its current and future effects in Indian Country."

On March 19, 2020, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Brian Schatz (D-HI) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai regarding keeping Lifeline subscribers connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. "We strongly urge the FCC to commit that no one loses access to Lifeline at this time of crisis. Congress has invested the FCC with emergency powers to waive, suspend, or revise its policies and regulations for challenging times.

On April 24, 2020, Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai about how multiple local governments from California and New York asked for, yet were denied, a further 60-day extension of the comment period over the DC Circuit Court of Appeals remand in the FCC's net neutrality repeal (Mozilla Corp. v. FCC). The senators asked the FCC to reconsider this position and further extend the comment period given the crisis created by the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.

The FCC's June 2020 meeting agenda includes the following:

An FCC auction of the T-band is a bad idea. But as of today, the law mandates that we do it. It’s unfortunate that Commission resources must be dedicated to laying the groundwork for an auction that will likely fail. This is especially true at a time when we are making every effort to keep Americans safe and connected, including allowing expanded temporary use of this very spectrum to help first responders save lives.

On March 19, 2020, Sens Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to urge the FCC to take action to ensure that all K-12 students in Minnesota have access to high-speed internet so they can continue their education while schools are closed in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

On March 9, 2020,  Senators Roger Wicker (R-MS), John Thune (R-SD), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Fischer (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Todd Young (R-IN) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai expressing concern as to having reliable underlying coverage data used to determine funding eligibility for a 5G fund for rural America. They urged the FCC to focus on ensuring that accurate data is available — including updates to the collection of coverage data as outline in the Broadband DATA Act.