Despite the shutdown chaos, lawmakers are staying focused on what matters most: protecting America through the 2026 defense bill.
The Senate has passed the annual NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) authorizing new spending for defense priorities, such as military equipment and technology. But hidden deep within the bill is a provision that quietly reverses one of President Trump’s biggest economic wins that was passed as a part of the One Big Beautiful Bill: broadband spectrum auctioning.
Tucked inside the NDAA’s pages is a clause that would restrict previously approved spectrum auctions. Lawmakers hide behind “national security concerns” but in truth, they are reopening a fight Trump already won to make America’s telecommunications great again.
President Trump’s approach to economic policy has always been clear — empower the private sector, cut red tape and trust American innovation. But the Senate’s defense bill takes a page straight from the Biden playbook of overregulation and government control. Instead of trusting the same free market forces that built the strongest economy in history, Washington insiders are putting bureaucrats back in charge of America’s future.
The Senate’s version hands the Department of Defense (now War) veto power over spectrum auctions — stripping authority from the President and the FCC, led by Chairman Brendan Carr. It’s a direct challenge to the administration’s vision for innovation and economic strength.
Specific wavelengths of government-owned broadband were already approved for auction after previously facing similar “national security” scrutiny by senators. Rehashing this fight is a waste of lawmakers’ time. As the United States competes with China in a global race for technological advancement — especially in artificial intelligence and digital connectivity — every delay puts us further behind.
While Beijing expands 6G infrastructure and tightens its grip on digital markets, our own government debates whether Americans should have faster, more reliable internet. True national security doesn’t come from red tape — it comes from outpacing our adversaries with innovation, speed and freedom.
Americans’ use of data is skyrocketing. Last year saw the single largest jump in U.S. wireless use in history, with a roughly 35% annual growth over the past few years. Keeping valuable tech resources, like spectrum, sitting unused on the government’s shelf is an utter mistake. It should be unleashed so the free market can grow and meet consumer demand.
Unlike bureaucrats in Washington, private enterprise is meeting the moment. Wireless providers invested $29 billion last year in order to serve customers’ moonshotting usage. For example, AT&T recently announced a $23 billion acquisition of low- and mid-band spectrum licenses from EchoStar to strengthen 5G and fiber connectivity to reach nearly every US market.
More growth and competition among telecommunications companies also brings down costs, presenting affordable options for the working class. In turn, American consumers will become less dependent on government programs such as the Universal Service Fund, which nearly one third of the country relies on for some form of internet access. This will preserve such a social program’s fiscal stability for the truly needy and long-term future.
America doesn’t win by grounding its own progress. We win by unleashing the same entrepreneurial spirit that built Silicon Valley, connected our heartland, and made this nation a global technology leader. President Trump understood that principle — Congress should remember it.
The House must remove this misguided provision from the NDAA before it becomes law. Our national defense depends not only on tanks and missiles but on the strength of our digital infrastructure. It’s time to put America’s builders, not politicians, back in the driver’s seat.
