On Feb. 12, 2026, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved S. 3639, the Satellite and Telecommunications (SAT) Streamlining Act. This bipartisan bill aims to modernize and accelerate the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s satellite licensing processes.
When Congress returns this week, it will have a lengthy agenda waiting. The U.S. House of Representatives is only scheduled to be in session for six more weeks prior to the election, and the U.S. Senate for eight weeks before November. Time is of the essence.
Here is a snapshot of that agenda.
Congress has been working for several months on “China competitiveness” legislation, which may turn out to be the most far-reaching legislation of 2022. On February 17th, the House-passed “America COMPETES Act” (“COMPETES”) was officially received in the Senate, which may clear the way to begin a formal “conference committee” to resolve differences between that bill
Under traditional U.S. Senate rules, unless every senator agrees otherwise it can take 60 votes to invoke “cloture” and limit further debate. However, the Senate has established several exceptions. In 2021, the Senate conducted 528 roll call votes. More than 80% of Senate votes (434) were in categories that are considered “exceptions” to the traditional