WASHINGTON — The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s reconciliation text would renew the Federal Communications Commission’s lapsed spectrum auction authority through fiscal 2034 and establish a pipeline of at least 600 megahertz of mid-band spectrum.

Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., disclosed in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal that the plan “will raise $88 billion by reauthorizing the Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum auction authority and provide resources to modernize federal information-technology systems. Both are crucial for maintaining and expanding U.S. technological leadership.”

The provisions, released in the text Sunday, are the latest installment in a yearslong debate about spectrum auctions.

The text of reconciliation provisions would direct the FCC to auction at least 200 MHz of spectrum within three years of enactment of the law and auction the rest within six years.

Proponents say spectrum auctions would facilitate private sector competition in the telecommunications industry, but defense hawks have raised concerns about the national security implications of selling from the military’s stores of spectrum. The Defense Department says it won’t need the mid-band spectrum lined up for auction.

The FCC lost spectrum auction authority in March 2023 for the first time since it received the authority in 1994. The auctions had been a frequent source of revenue often used to pay for other spending or to help offset losses from tax cuts.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee chairman and a leading voice for spectrum auction authority, said May 7 that the innovation that could come from spectrum auctions would have more than just economic benefits. Global communications development is pivotal to national security for America and its allies, he said.

“Simply put, if we do not lead on spectrum, we will lose the 21st-century technology race to China, one that includes critical adjacent industries like artificial intelligence and quantum and semiconductors,” Cruz said at an industry event. “That cannot happen.”

The Pentagon largely uses mid-band spectrum in the 3.1-3.45 gigahertz range for radars, weapons systems, satellite communications and navigation systems, according to a September 2023 report.

The reconciliation text said the auction would exclude spectrum frequencies between 3.1 and 3.45 GHz and between 5.925 and 7.125 GHz.

Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., sponsored a bill in the 118th Congress that would have reauthorized the FCC’s auction ability with Pentagon backing. That bill didn’t make it out of committee.

Cantwell raised national security concerns in a May 6 letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth regarding the GOP’s plan to include spectrum auction language in the budget reconciliation efforts.

“Make no mistake, on today’s battlefield, if we lose the spectrum war, we lose the war,” Cantwell wrote. “However, some in Congress now want to disrupt this work by auctioning off strategic portions of spectrum — resources currently in use by our military — to the highest bidder. This would be a grave error, placing short-term corporate gain ahead of our nation’s long-term security.”

Cantwell also pointed to President Donald Trump’s proposal of a Golden Dome missile system as an initiative that could be impacted by spectrum auctions because the project would require significant spectrum resources for sensors, radars and ballistic systems.

Proponents of the auctions say they are essential to ensure the U.S. remains competitive in telecommunications and manufacturing against tech industry giants like China-based Huawei.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr also supports establishing a new pipeline of mid-band spectrum, saying in a March letter to lawmakers that such an effort is “vital to our economy and national security.”

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