i2Coalition Internet Infrastructure Policy Brief: March 2026

Your brief update on important Internet policy issues

OUTLOOK

Congress departed Washington at the end of March for a two-week spring holiday recess, leaving behind significant unfinished business. Despite weeks of discussion, the House and Senate failed to agree on a way forward to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and resume paying its employees, including workers in DHS’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) who operate the nation’s airport security checkpoints for passengers. Failure to pay TSA workers resulted in reduced operations with some financially strapped employees quitting altogether, creating workforce shortages and long lines and delays for millions of air travelers at some major airports during the popular U.S. spring break period. To ameliorate cascading TSA worker shortages and delays at many airports, President Trump ultimately signed an executive order in late March to pay TSA workers. New leadership at DHS was put in place in March after the Senate voted to confirm Oklahoma’s former U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin as the new DHS Secretary. Upon its return in mid-April Congress plans to address full funding of DHS. House and Senate leaders will likely confront again the political divide between the House and Senate centered on whether funds would be included in the DHS legislation for ICE, the department’s immigration and customs enforcement arm. After the spring recess, the Republican leaders of the House and Senate plan to offer a second budget reconciliation package that may include the DHS funding; supplemental funding for the US-Israel Iran war conflict that was launched in late February; healthcare tax breaks; permitting reform; and the SAVE America Act (a voter I.D. bill strongly supported by the President). President Trump expects to release his administration’s FY 2027 Budget Request to Congress in early April. On the global side, the direction and political, national security, and financial impacts of the war in Iran will continue to take center stage during and after the Congressional recess, particularly signals from the White House on whether the path forward involves an end to the conflict, or an escalation. 

TECH POLICY PRIORITIES 

Intermediary Liability/Content Moderation. The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing to address whether and how to reform Section 230. Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) noted his intention to introduce his legislation addressing government censorship via jawboning. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing marking the 30th anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 at which Section 230 reform was discussed generally by a number of members. 

Federal Privacy. The Republican House Energy and Commerce Privacy Working Group is turning to work on federal comprehensive privacy legislation once again, now that the Energy and Commerce Committee advanced a package of kids online safety bills. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) aims to pass out of committee a companion package of kids online safety legislation in the coming weeks. 

Copyright/IP. The Supreme Court ruled decisively in favor of Cox in the Cox Communications v. Sony Entertainment case, clarifying that companies are not liable for copyright infringement merely for providing services to the general public, even where some users may misuse them–reaffirming that contributory liability requires intent. Separately, the Court declined to grant review in a case that challenged federal agency and court rulings preventing copyright registration for an image generated entirely by artificial intelligence. 

Antitrust/Competition. The Dept. of Justice (DOJ) sent subpoenas in its investigation of Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, increasing regulatory scrutiny of the consequential media merger. The DOJ is seeking information on how the deal would affect studio output, content rights and competition among streaming services. Live Nation reached an antitrust settlement with the DOJ requiring it to pay roughly $200 million in damages to participating states and reportedly including structural changes to Live Nation’s ticketing business platform to allow third-party sellers to list tickets directly through Ticketmaster’s technology. 

Broadband. The bipartisan leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, Chair Richard Hudson (R-NC) and Ranking Member Doris Matsui (D-CA), said at a late March hearing that they expect discussions to revise the 30-year old Telecommunications Act of 1996 to continue into the next Congress and beyond. At the hearing members expressed interest in addressing a variety of issues related to the 1996 law, including its application to AI and the Universal Service Fund. NTIA plans to approve all state broadband spending plans by May 2026. Currently, California, Illinois, and Oklahoma are the only states that have not received BEAD funding approval. NTIA delayed release of guidance on how states can spend remaining nondeployment funds allocated through the BEAD program, noting it is still reviewing the matter. 

Find Out More

For more in-depth updates on Internet policy, including issues that specifically impact your organization, please contact us about joining the i2Coalition.