Senator Deb Fischer is proposing an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) currently being debated on the Senate floor that would prohibit modification of the spectrum between 3.1 - 3.4 GHz and between 7.4 - 8.4 GHz unless the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff jointly agree. In spectrum provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill reconciliation statute, these bands generally were exempted from being designated for auction to private sector entities. But the Defense Department was not granted authority to supercede normal executive branch decision-making. Nor could it be.
Here's a tweet from August 14 with my response to Senator Fischer's proposal:
Now that the NDAA bill is being debated, the White House has issued a formal objection to Senator Fisher's proposed amendment, stating: "The certification would hinder the President’s executive authority."
I agree. This is not a matter of supporting the military and its mission, which I do. But, ultimately, under our Constitution, the president is Chief Executive as well as Commander in Chief, responsible for overseeing the entire executive branch, and, of course the military. Congress cannot properly restrict a president's executive authority by handing over final decision-making authority to his subordinates.
Presumably President Trump - and any future president - will want to ensure, just as much as Senator Fischer, that our nation's military has the spectrum it needs to protect defend us.
Senator Fischer should withdraw her amendment.
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