November 13, 2025

Chairman Roger F. Wicker 
Senate Armed Services Committee
228 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Ranking Member Jack Reed
Senate Armed Services Committee
228 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Chairman Mike Rogers
House Armed Services Committee
2216 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Ranking Member Adam Smith
House Armed Services Committee
2216 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reed, Chairman Rogers, and Ranking Member Smith,

You will be soon meeting to negotiate in conference the differences between H.R. 3838 and S. 2296, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, I urge you to instruct the conferees to remove Section 1564, “Limitation on Modification of Certain Electromagnetic Spectrum Relied on by the Department of Defense,” from S. 2296 during your conference negotiations. 

Section 1564 would give the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff each the ability to veto any non-military use of spectrum located between 3100 and 3450 megahertz and between 7400 and 8400 megahertz whenever they may cite national security concerns over its potential use. This provision would thwart the intent of Congress in H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which required the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to locate 800 MHz of spectrum for auction by the Federal Communications Commission. H.R. 1 did not provide veto power for any federal agency or exceptions to the NTIA’s ability to identify spectrum that could be reallocated to federal use, shared non-federal and federal use, or a combination of these uses, and that carefully crafted language should stand as written.

Again, I urge you instruct the conferees to strike Section 1564 of the Senate version of the NDAA for FY 2026 from the final conference report, as it will impede future auctions and use of available spectrum, and challenge America’s global leadership in telecommunications policy and innovation.

Sincerely,

Thomas A. Schatz
President, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste