Broadcasters, the NAB, state associations, and millions of listeners nationwide notched a major milestone in the years-long fight to protect AM radio access as the House of Representatives on Tuesday evening passed the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act.
The voice vote sends H.R. 979 to the Senate, where companion legislation, S. 315, has sat on the Legislative Calendar under General Orders since the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee approved it in April 2025.
Whether the upper body of Congress will take up the vote is now the focus of inside the Beltway discussions, as the Senate is expected to pass the bill if it were to get a vote scheduled on the calendar between now and the end of the current Congress. Still, intense lobbying from the Consumer Technology Association and automotive companies could again emerge as an obstacle to the long sought-for legislation.
The bill’s path to a floor vote wound through committee markups in both chambers, a stretch attached to Chairman Brett Guthrie’s surface transportation package in May, and a summer campaign urging leadership to schedule standalone floor time. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise set the vote for this week after telling Salem Media syndicated personality Hugh Hewitt he was pulling the measure off the stalled transportation vehicle and bringing it to the floor on its own.
Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) and Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) lead H.R. 979 in the House, taking over the fight from originating sponsor Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey in the previous Congress. Senators Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) lead S. 315 in the Senate, where the act enjoys enough co-sponsors for a filibuster-proof majority.
Again, the lone question now is if leadership brings the bill to the floor.
The Senate returned to session on Monday after a month-long recess, giving S. 315 a narrow window to reach the floor without further committee action. As it stands, the chamber’s 2026 calendar shows senators leaving for a near-total recess covering the weeks of October 4 through November 1 ahead of the November 3 midterms, then returning for only two days before the November 11 observance of Veterans Day.
Absent floor action before October 4, the AM radio mandate would likely wait for a post-election session in mid-November or December to reach a vote.
— With reports from RBR+TVBR in Washington, D.C.
