Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) was given a Senate floor send-off Tuesday (Dec. 8) as he gave his last floor speech before retiring.

Udall, a member of the Commerce Committee, was among the legislators who backed legislation to increase the funding to TV stations in the post incentive auction repack, and pushed back hard on President Trump's attacks on journalists.

He also called on the FCC to make sure broadcasters and cable operators being repacked following the C-band spectrum auction (which started Tuesday) did not suffer interference from wireless companies bidding for the spectrum.

Back in 2018, Udall called on the FCC "to defend the free press in light of repeated attacks from President Trump and members of his administration. That came after Trump had threatened to go after TV station licenses over media coverage critical of him. 

“Tom Udall is an effective legislator and dedicated public servant who has affected meaningful policy and represented the state of New Mexico honorably," said National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith, himself a former senator and Udall's cousin. "NAB commends Tom for his service to our nation and appreciates his ardent defense of a free press as a crucial component to a functioning democracy.

“On a personal note, it was a privilege to serve beside him in Congress and to carry on our families’ legacy of public service. I join with the rest of the broadcast community in wishing him all the best in his next chapter.”

A handful of Democratic senators have asked FCC chair Ajit Pai to put the new T-Mobile-Sprint conditions offered up this week out for public comment before voting on the deal.  

Pai said this week that the conditions, including spinning off Boost Mobile, holding down prices and pledging 5G buildouts, made the deal in the public interest and he planned to circulate an order approving it, which his fellow Republican commissioners, comprising a majority, indicated they would support. 

In the letter, the senators, who opposed the deal as previously constituted, said they still oppose it and asked both the FCC and Justice Department to reject it.  

Related: FCC Poised to OK T-Mobile-Sprint Merger

They cited the behavioral conditions, but made no mention of the Boost spin-off. 

They said the conditions are mostly unrelated to merger-specific harms and thus the type of condition the chairman has criticized in the past. They also said they were worried about the process and that the conditions appeared without public input or "visibility." 

As a result, they said, the FCC should give the public 30 days to weigh in on the conditions, though they did not need that long to say they don't think they make the deal palatable.  

Signing on to the letter were Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey (both D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.). 

Partly in response to a reporter's run-in with FCC security guards, Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) have asked the Senate Commerce Committee to hold a hearing on the state  of the media.

Both are members of the committee and both sent a letter to the FCC seeking info on what happened May 18 when a reporter said he was pinned against the wall by security guards for trying to ask a question of a commissioner after a meeting.

The senators cited Trump Administration hostility toward the press, plus the proliferation of "fake news," for wanting the committee to hold the hearing--they said the last committee hearing on the state of journalism was in 2009 and that a new look was needed to "Refresh the record."

“The journalism industry is grappling with a changing media landscape: from the changing dynamics of how people access news, to changing financial calculations, to the proliferation of so-called ‘fake news’ (both actual disinformation campaigns and the use of the term to slander legitimate news reporting), to a challenging relationship between news media and the Executive branch,” the Senators wrote in a letter to Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) “There have been a series of recent incidents in which hostility has been exercised against members of the press by members of the Administration, including just last week when a reporter was allegedly manhandled and threatened by security guards after a news conference at the Federal Communications Commission headquarters.”

At the Senate Commerce Committee's FCC oversight hearing Wednesday (March 8), agency chairman Ajit Pai would not be drawn into the debate over President Donald Trump's attacks on the media, refusing to comment on Trump's "enemy of the people" characterization, but he stood by his past statements against the government pressuring news outlets to cover stories in a certain way and pledged to run an independent agency.

Outlining Trump's "open hostility toward media outlets" -- many of which have business before the FCC, "from regulatory matters to potential merger reviews" -- as well as Pai's historic statements in support of a free press and against White House pressure on independent agencies, Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) asked Pai whether he also views the press as the enemy.

While Pai said he would not comment on issues beyond the commission, he associated himself with the comments quoted, including an op ed in which he wrote, "The government has no business pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories," and an interview in which he said the FCC should use the bully pulpit to continue advocating for free speech.

Udall said the president was using bully tactics against the media and asked Pai whether he agreed with Trump's comments.

"I don’t want to get into the larger political debates, but I will simply reaffirm the quotes that you offered," Pai said, referring to his own quoted statements.

"So you refuse to answer that," Udall noted.

"No," Pai said, adding, "I believe that every American enjoys the First Amendment protection guaranteed by the Constitution."

Pai would not comment on whether his discussions with Trump, including one earlier this week, covered any specific media companies, saying he would leave that question to the White House to answer. But asked if the FCC would operate independently of the White House, Pai said, "Absolutely."

Udall pressed further, asking if Pai would resist "any attempt by the White House to use the FCC to intimidate news organizations." Pai said he has consistently stated the FCC is independent and that he would render decisions based on law, precedent and what he and his colleagues think is in the public interest.

The chairman said he has not had any conversations with anyone at the White House about CNN or the AT&T-Time Warner deal.

Asked if he would immediately report to the committee if the White House contacted him about taking any favorable or negative actions regarding any media or communications business, Pai said he would follow all the appropriate ethical requirements that would apply.