The Midterms and What NATE Is Watching

Voters went to the polls Tuesday in the 2026 midterm elections, and with control of both chambers of Congress shifting as results are finalized, the makeup of the committees that drive telecom policy is set to change heading into the next Congress. NATE does not take sides in elections, and its focus stays on the issues that affect member companies regardless of who holds the gavel: leadership of the Senate Commerce and House Energy and Commerce committees, the Dec. 11 government funding deadline and the lame-duck session that follows, the path for permitting reform, BEAD implementation, and the spectrum pipeline. NATE will keep members updated on the post-election landscape and what it means for the industry.

Senate Commerce Sets November 10 Confirmation Hearing for FCC Nominee Danielle Thumann Severs

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 10:30 a.m. ET for Danielle Thumann Severs, President Trump’s nominee to the FCC. The hearing was first set for Sept. 17 and was postponed after she gave birth. Thumann Severs is senior counsel to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. She will testify alongside nominees for posts at the Department of Transportation and NASA, and the hearing will be livestreamed. If confirmed, she would fill one of the Commission’s two vacant seats and give Republicans a 3-1 majority. In September, NATE joined other communications infrastructure trade groups in backing her nomination and urging the Senate to confirm her quickly.

Permitting Reform Teed Up for a Post-Election Senate Vote

A bipartisan permitting package led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the American Affordability and Jobs Act, is positioned for a Senate vote now that the elections have passed. The bill is built mainly around energy and transmission projects, and the industry will watch whether the fiber routes and communications towers that carry data-center and broadband traffic get the same fast-track treatment. Streamlined federal permitting remains one of NATE’s central priorities.

Tower Sector in Focus as SpaceX Eyes Cell Sites and Dish Winds Down

The tower business is drawing fresh attention as SpaceX pushes into mobile. Bloomberg reported that SpaceX is in talks for access to roughly 80,000 U.S. cell sites, and tower companies now hold the thousands of 5G radios Dish Wireless left behind as it winds down, gear analysts suggest SpaceX could buy. Even as satellite direct-to-device advances, a would-be entrant that still needs ground sites reads as a potential tenant, a reminder that terrestrial towers remain central to coverage. 

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