Broadcasters Push Early-2026 House Vote On AM Dashboards.

The groundwork was laid last year on a bill that would require AM radio to be in vehicle dashboards. And as 2026 begins, the radio industry is entering the year with a narrowed but optimistic playbook to finally pass the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. The bill already carries broad, bipartisan support. But it now faces the harder task of converting co-sponsors into scheduled floor time in the House and Senate.

Nicole Gustafson, Senior VP of Government Relations at the National Association of Broadcasters, says the “intense pressure” lawmakers have been feeling — including from constituents calling and repeatedly asking about the bill — helps “create momentum” for its passage. But unlike the past, she says in an NAB podcast that how Congress operates today will likely require a more complicated path to final passage.

Historically, legislation with lots of support would be attached as a rider on larger bills, such as appropriation bills. But that practice has fallen out of favor, meaning both chambers will likely need to take up the AM radio proposal as standalone measures.

The bill was placed on the House union calendar in November, meaning the bill has been approved by a committee and is on the official list of legislation eligible for House floor debate and voting. But after the chamber went into a nearly eight-week recess during the government shutdown, lawmakers have been bogged down with a backlog of business.

Gustafson remains “very optimistic” it will happen in the coming weeks. “We expect an overwhelming vote in the House,” she said, noting Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) Is “very supportive of getting this bill done.”

If it does come to a vote, passage is an easy prediction to make, considering the list of co-sponsors in the House now totals 318 members.

Meanwhile, 61 Senators are also onboard. But the path forward is bit more complicated in the Senate even with the super-majority needed to pass the bill. Unlike the House, the Senate requires either unanimous consent or formally allocated floor time for standalone passage. Three senators have already objected to unanimous consent, meaning the AM bill must either compete for limited Senate floor hours — a slow, resource-intensive path — or attach to a larger, must-pass bill as a rider.

“We have some potential options that we're working on,” Gustafson said. “We're really working on all of these routes to get this to the President's desk this Congress.”

The political distance between Tesla founder Elon Musk and President Trump could also work in radio’s favor. The bill hit a sudden roadblock at the end of 2024, in part because Musk attacked the idea of requiring automakers like Tesla to begin offering AM to drivers.

That doesn’t seem to be an issue this year according to Gustafson. “President Trump has also expressed his strong support for getting this done,” she said.

The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (H.R.979/S. 315) would not only mandate AM in passenger vehicles for the next decade, but also require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a rule requiring warning labels on vehicles that don’t. And carmakers would be prohibited from charging extra for AM.

NAB Senior VP Alex Siciliano says the momentum behind the bill last year was driven by a “growing recognition” of AM radio's role in public safety as well as the “sustained engagement” by broadcasters lobbying local lawmakers from across the country. Those efforts will continue until the bill becomes law.

Gustafson said the 2026 phase will look to deepen the radio industry’s alliances with groups ranging from the AARP to governors, attorneys general, emergency managers, firefighters, police, and state legislatures — converting political alignment into what she calls broadcasters’ “competitive advantage” in Washington.