Three years. That’s how long the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act has been sitting in congressional purgatory, and frankly, the industry — and the American public — should be furious about it.
Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced the bill three years ago with the kind of bipartisan fanfare that doesn’t come along very often in Washington. The legislation had a clear purpose: require automakers to keep AM radio as standard equipment in every new vehicle sold in the United States. Simple. Popular. Necessary. And yet, here we are, still waiting.
So whose fault is it? That’s the question worth asking. Because if this bill is as popular as the numbers suggest, someone has to answer for the fact that it’s gone essentially nowhere.
The NAB Has Done Its Job
Let’s start with the National Association of Broadcasters, because that’s where fingers often point first. In this case, though, the finger doesn’t belong there. NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt has been vocal, consistent, and relentless in his support for the bill. He’s lobbied Capitol Hill. He’s touted the bipartisan support the legislation has attracted. And he’s celebrated every incremental win along the way, including the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s 50-1 vote to advance the bill last fall.
The NAB has even released public service announcements in both English and Spanish, urging listeners to contact their members of Congress directly.
The numbers the NAB has helped build are remarkable. The bill has cleared 375 co-sponsors across both chambers. National polling shows 83% of Americans support keeping AM radio in new vehicles as a public safety measure. Of more than 6,000 bills introduced this Congress, only two have more co-sponsors. By every measurable standard, LeGeyt and the NAB have done their jobs. The blame doesn’t live there.
What about the radio industry itself? Broadcasters could certainly be more assertive in pressuring lawmakers directly. Station owners and operators have platforms, audiences, and community relationships that carry real political weight. That said, industry-wide political lobbying is precisely what the NAB exists to do. Expecting individual broadcasters to carry the legislative load that their trade association is built to handle isn’t a reasonable standard.
Congress Needs to Act
That brings us to where the blame actually belongs: Congress. And this isn’t a partisan critique — it’s a systemic one.
It’s genuinely disheartening to watch a piece of legislation with hundreds of supporters on both sides of the aisle collect dust for three years without even making it to a floor vote in either chamber. Speaker Mike Johnson is a co-sponsor of this bill. Majority Leader Steve Scalise has pledged a floor vote. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz co-authored the legislation. These aren’t fringe supporters — they’re the people with the power to schedule a vote tomorrow if they choose to. So why haven’t they?
The government shutdown last fall stalled momentum in the House. Three senators have used procedural objections to gum up the Senate version. Automakers and the Consumer Technology Association have spent millions lobbying against the bill in 2026 alone. Every time the bill builds a head of steam, something knocks it sideways.
That’s not a coincidence. That’s Washington.
Here’s the truth, though: this isn’t just a radio industry problem. It’s a symptom of a Congress that talks a big game and then struggles to execute even on the easiest wins. A bill with 83% public support, filibuster-proof backing in the Senate, and a 50-1 committee vote shouldn’t require three years and counting to reach the floor. In any other professional environment, that kind of performance would be unacceptable.
The radio industry should keep pushing. Listeners should keep calling their representatives. And Congress needs to stop stalling and vote on the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act — because at this point, the delay itself should’ve become the story.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
I think your point about a systemic issue within our legislature is spot on. When one side cannot support the doing the right thing because the otherside thought of it first or the other side might benefit from the action, that is definitely unacceptable and since both sides exhibit the behavior it isn’t a partisan problem, it is systemic.
As for the AM in every vehicle act, I have to say I think the radio industry might have some responsibility here. According to the FCC’s website, there are 4342 AM stations in the USA. That is down about 1% from this same time last year and is part a 7% decline over the last 10 years. Rising cost and declining listenership are often given as the reason for station owners turning in their licenses.
I frequently talk with colleagues and friends who are engineers working as consultants or for group owners and most have told me about AM stations they work on that are literally a single major failure from going dark and an owner that is aware of the possibility and unwilling to invest in the station either to prevent the failure or recover from it, for the reasons listed above.
It seems to me that while the rhetoric around keeping AM in vehicles is about protecting consumers, the station owners’ hearts aren’t in it and it looks more like protecting turf which in this case is a place in the dashboard of a car. It may be time for the industry to make some bold moves that focus less on the tradition of AM in the car as the reason to preserve it and more on supplying services that make it worth putting in the car.