FCC Chairman Ajit Pai hailed apparent end Wednesday of the push for the Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval aimed at reversing rescission of commission 2015 net neutrality rules. The House held a brief pro forma session Wednesday but conducted no business amid the ongoing partial government shutdown (see 1901020048), ending the final full day of the 115th Congress. The House is expected to hold a final pro forma session at 11 a.m. Thursday, just before the formal start of the 116th Congress. Incoming House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., this Congress pushed strongly for the CRA measure (see 1811290042). “I’m pleased that a strong bipartisan majority” in the House “declined to reinstate heavy-handed Internet regulation," Pai said. Recent reports from the Fiber Broadband Association and Ookla showed “broadband speeds are up” and “fiber was made available to more new homes in 2018 than in any previous year.” A discharge petition to force a vote had support from 182 House members, below the required 218. The Senate passed the measure in May, 52-47 (see 1805160064). Incoming House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., is planning a net neutrality hearing for early this year (see 1812310008). Fight for the Future, a booster of the CRA measure, acknowledged Wednesday the “clock has run out” but Deputy Director Evan Greer said the larger net neutrality effort isn't finished. “We used the CRA as a powerful tool to get lawmakers on the record,” Greer said. “If House leadership had allowed a vote on the CRA, we likely would have won that too. Instead, we used a discharge petition to get a record number of lawmakers publicly in support of strong net neutrality protections.” House Democratic leaders proposed expanding legislative days members can execute a discharge petition as part of the chamber's rules package for next Congress. The House is to vote on the rules Thursday, in the new Congress. A federal court named a panel with two Democratic appointees and one Republican appointee to review the FCC net neutrality rollback order (see 1901020040).
Democrats' capture of control of the House hasn't made the potential outcome of the looming Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization debate any easier to predict, lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews. Media policy stakeholders said before the election that uncertainty about which party would have the House majority in the 116th Congress made it harder to forecast the direction of recertification discussions (see 1804030061 and 1810230051). STELA is expected to be a top 2019 telecom policy priority for the House and Senate Commerce committees (see 1812060050). The Judiciary committees also are expected to play an active role in deciding whether and how to reauthorize the law.
The Senate confirmed Democratic FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks and Commissioner Brendan Carr to a second full term Wednesday night via unanimous consent. The chamber also confirmed Kelvin Droegemeier as White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director. A breakthrough on a string of confirmations followed hours of negotiations Wednesday night between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a Senate source said.
Wednesday saw no signs of progress on an agreement to end the impasse on border wall funding between Capitol Hill and President Donald Trump that led to a shutdown of parts of the federal government (see 1812210048). Trump and congressional Democrats weren't directly negotiating but staff-level discussions continue, Hill aides said. Congress is set to reconvene Thursday afternoon, but neither the House nor Senate had scheduled votes.
The federal government appeared Friday evening to be on the verge of a partial shutdown due to disagreement between the Senate and president and a supportive House majority over the inclusion of $5 billion in border wall funding in a continuing resolution to temporarily fund government through Feb. 8. A CR set to expire at midnight Friday covers funding for the FCC, FTC and the departments of Commerce and Homeland Security and others.
Withdrawal of both holds on Senate confirmation of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to a full five-year term ends the main hurdle to approval of him and Democratic FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks. But dynamics in the Senate continue to cloud their chances for confirmation this year. Senate leaders have been working since June to advance the nominees as a pair (see 1806270065). Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, lifted his hold on Carr (see 1812200033) in concert with the formal end of a separate hold by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. President Donald Trump would need to renominate Carr and Starks for the Senate to reconsider them in 2019.
Widespread doubts about the likelihood of Senate confirmation this year of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to a full five-year term and Democratic FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks remained Wednesday, despite the likely impending end of one of two holds on Carr. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he's close to lifting his hold. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said he was still maintaining his hold. Senate leaders intend to move Carr and Starks as a pair.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, is lifting his hold on Senate confirmation of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, an aide told us Thursday. The end of Sullivan's hold, in combination with the end of a separate hold on Carr by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., could clear the way for the Senate to approve Carr and Democratic FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks in an end-of-the-year package that may come as soon as Thursday afternoon. Senate leaders have been working since June to advance the nominees as a pair.
A second hold placed last week on Senate confirmation of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to a full five-year term has at least considerably hindered the prospects for the chamber to approve him and Democratic FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks this year, lawmakers and lobbyists said in interviews. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., placed a hold on Carr because of the FCC's decision to suspend the window for responding to Mobility Fund Phase II challenges (see 1812140047). Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, placed an ongoing hold on Carr earlier this year over concerns about FCC handling of the USF Rural Health Care Program (see 1809130059). Senate leaders intend to move the nominees as a pair.
Supporters and opponents of the FCC’s 2015 net neutrality rules marked the one-year anniversary Friday of the commission’s 2017 vote to rescind the rules, with divergent assessments of the effect of that action. House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., treated the anniversary as an opportunity to push his Congressional Review Act resolution to undo FCC rescission of the 2015 rules. Doyle, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., also wrote in CNET they aim for net neutrality to be a policy agenda item in 2019, when Democrats will gain control of the House. “Millions of Americans have spoken up in support” of the 2015 rules “and it is time to act” on a discharge petition to force a floor vote on the measure, Doyle tweeted. The petition has the signatures of 180 House members, and Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., said she plans to sign onto the measure “when Congress returns to session” Wednesday and “asked to be included on this legislative initiative moving forward.” Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy fellow Gigi Sohn blogged that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai “would have you believe that the net neutrality repeal was of no consequence -- the Internet wasn’t destroyed, cute pictures of cats and dogs are still in abundance, Google and Netflix are alive and well. But even in the short 6 months since the December 14 repeal of the net neutrality rules became effective, we have seen how consumers and competitors lose when broadband providers are given license to self-regulate and the FCC discards its responsibility to oversee the market” (see 1806110054). The rescission order has been “empowering consumers while paving the way for innovation & investment to flourish,” the FCC tweeted. “Some suggested the Internet would cease to exist” because of the 2015 rules’ rescission, but “these claims were proven false,” tweeted Nathan Leamer, aide to Pai. “We had a free and open Internet before and this framework will continue to protect it going forward.” Institute for Policy Innovation President Tom Giovanetti emailed supporters asking “have you noticed any change? Could you detect a disturbance in the Force on this day, one year ago? Has your internet experience significantly deteriorated in the year since? Neither has anyone else’s.” Repealing the 2015 rules “was the right thing to do” given “the internet got dramatically better in the year since internet regulations were reversed,” Giovanetti said.