HFU HF Underground
General Category => General Radio Discussion => Topic started by: Charlie_Dont_Surf on October 02, 2025, 0021 UTC
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https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/fcc-suspends-most-normal-operations-142019540.html (https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/fcc-suspends-most-normal-operations-142019540.html)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday it has furloughed 1,044 employees -- or 81% of its staff -- and suspended most normal operations after a lapse in U.S. government funding.
The U.S. telecommunications regulator said it will stop answering consumer complaint and inquiry phone lines, halt consumer protection and local competition enforcement as well as ceasing licensing services, including broadcast, wireless, and wireline.
The FCC will also stop approving new equipment authorization but it will continue efforts on a planned spectrum auction required by Congress.
Not mentioned here is the Enforcement Division. Maybe they are still hunting for pirates and maybe they are not. I'm going to guess probably not.
Do what you may with this information. ;)
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Wonder how many are brought back if/when the shutdown is over...
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Not mentioned here is the Enforcement Division. Maybe they are still hunting for pirates and maybe they are not. I'm going to guess probably not.
Considering they love to levy exorbitant fines on FM and AM pirates, I would think they still have those enforcement employees working. Brenden Carr is the one that needs to be permanently furloughed.
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Not mentioned here is the Enforcement Division. Maybe they are still hunting for pirates and maybe they are not. I'm going to guess probably not.
Considering they love to levy exorbitant fines on FM and AM pirates, I would think they still have those enforcement employees working.
I understand the comment.
As a follow up, I was unable to access the press release on the FCC website yesterday because all the links to all the press releases created a JSON error. They seem to have fixed that today and here is the press release describing what will continue and be halted: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-414960A1.pdf (https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-414960A1.pdf)
Of relevance:
Generally, during such a shutdown, all FCC activities will cease other than those immediately necessary for the protection of life or property, performing other excepted activities or those funded through a source other than lapsed appropriations.
The FCC is mandated to carry out and report on AM & FM pirate enforcement activities "in five key markets" per the PIRATE Act of 2020. The text of The PIRATE Act (https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/583/text (https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/583/text)) says nothing about funding all this activity. That being the case, I assume that it is funded through plain-jane annual appropriations.
It should also be said that The FCC usually reports busts of pirates (AM/FM or otherwise) in terms of "prevention of harmful interference" to public safety personnel, other users, etc. Of relevance on how many personnel are being kept on during the shutdown:
Up to four (4) employees will be retained to provide oversight or conduct interference detection, mitigation, and disaster response operations wherever they may be needed. These will be full-time employees strategically located across the country to resolve imminent threats to the safety of life or property.
Of relevance to HF pirates:
Up to twenty-five (25) employees, not otherwise exempt, will be retained to protect life and property. These are largely full-time employees, working shifts to cover 24-hour and 18-hour operations. Up to two (2) employees will work per shift at each location.
Staff of the High Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF) Center will operate the high frequency antenna system used to protect life and property.
I'm going to revise what I wrote in this thread yesterday.
For HF pirates, they may still be looking for you, but they may just wait until this is over before they figure out exactly where you are transmitting from.
For AM/FM pirates, especially in the top five markets, given the text above, I have absolutely no idea whether they are still hunting or not.
Brenden Carr is the one that needs to be permanently furloughed.
He's very hard core. He's consumed a swimming pool of the Kool-Aid at this point. He even wears a lapel pin with a silhouette of Trump. This is exactly the type of stuff that Trump loves. Carr is not going anywhere. For what it's worth, the press release about the shutdown says that the Commissioners are still working through the shutdown.