Sen. Marsha Blackburn Proposes Resolution to Gut Net Neutrality

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas,introduced a resolution last week in the Democratic-controlled Senate to cut the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) order that reinstated net neutrality. Blackburn filed the resolution amid the media storm surrounding the success she saw with her controversial Kids Online Safety & Privacy Act advancing out of the Senate. While this resolution has little chance of advancing due to broad support for net neutrality among Senate Democrats, the proposal speaks to the GOP-backed efforts to fight the broadband order. The joint resolution was filed under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) in a bid to nullify the net neutrality rules officially adopted in April and slated to enter force in the coming days. Under the CRA, the Senate and House of Representatives are given stronger oversight to review the rules and regulations adopted by federal regulatory agencies, like the FCC. Adopted in 1996, the act also requires federal regulatory agencies to submit reports on each new rule and regulation to both houses of Congress and to the office of the U.S. Comptroller General, who leads the federal Government Accountability Office. This has to be done before new rules take effect. The joint resolution reads, "Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the ... [Federal Communications Commission] ... and such rule shall have no force or effect."  The resolution has to be adopted to have any impact on net neutrality regulation. However, as noted, Blackburn's measure lacks the necessary support in the Senate to have an impact on the policy. AVN previously reported that a federal appeals court has temporarily halted the enforcement of the net neutrality rules through the context of an administrative stay. An administrative stay on the FCC's rules was implemented by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, because of lawsuits filed by stakeholder organizations and broadband companies to block the rule. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, an independent panel in the U.S. court system that manages similar lawsuits filed in several courts, declared the Sixth Circuit to be the appropriate legal venue for consolidating several cases brought by broadband industry groups. Per the consolidation of the case, the panel consolidated eight cases into a single proceeding with extremely broad implications for these cases. AVN also reported that a recent action by the U.S. Supreme Court limited the power of federal regulatory agencies like the FCC and established that regulation should be considered in courts. The decision was reached by the conservative-leaning high court in the landmark case of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. Now, the private sector and large business interests have greater standing in challenging whether the FCC overstepped.