Republicans to Seek Reversal of Net Neutrality Order with Congressional Review Act

"The new House majority will work to reverse this unnecessary and harmful federal government power grab next year,” said next year’s Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a floor speech Tuesday morning before the vote, also threatened a Congressional response. The FCC action “would harm investment, stifle innovation, and lead to job losses,” McConnell said. “Fortunately, we'll have an opportunity in the new Congress to push back against new rules and regulations."

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., praised what he called the balance struck by the FCC order between the interests of consumers and ISPs. “The new rules approved by the FCC today preserve the existing open nature of the Internet, while fostering certainty in the broadband marketplace,” he said. “This policy will encourage continued investment and growth of the Internet."

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski plans to work with Congressional critics, Genachowski said in a press conference. “We adopted today a strong and balanced order that has widespread support and that focuses on the importance of Internet freedom, the importance of private investment, the importance of business model experimentation,” he said. “I'm looking forward to speaking about it with anyone who is interested."

Republicans’ preferred tool to reverse the order is the Congressional Review Act. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member John Ensign, R-Nev., plan to introduce a “resolution of disapproval” under that Act early in the next Congress, Hutchison said in a floor speech Tuesday afternoon. Incoming House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., thinks tapping the Congressional Review Act is “the perfect way to go” because it requires only simple majorities in the House and Senate, Upton said on a teleconference with reporters Tuesday afternoon. He thinks Congress can muster bipartisan support in the Senate, where Democrats will maintain control. Upton added that the committee plans to reach out to Hutchison.

The FCC can also expect heavy oversight from the House. The Commerce Committee will have a “whole series” of hearings, said Upton. Several subcommittees will join the discussion, including Communications, Oversight and Manufacturing, he said. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., who next year will chair the Commerce Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee, plans to “exercise strong oversight on the FCC,” Stearns said. He said he will “outline that Internet regulation is out of the FCC’s jurisdiction and that regulation will hamper economic growth and job creation."

"It’s time for Congress to take a stand,” Hutchison said. Unelected commissioners of the FCC are attempting an “unprecedented power grab” and the commission “is in effect legislating” by adopting the order, she said. On the teleconference with Upton, incoming Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., said he’s “very troubled” by the process and policy. More troubling than the rules are the “legal theories that allegedly underpin them,” he said. Walden also complained the two Republican commissioners didn’t find out about “substantial” changes to the draft order until 11:30 p.m. Monday night. That no one likes the order completely isn’t a sign of success, Walden said. “Public policy can achieve higher goals and levels than that."

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., urged Congress curb the power of the FCC and other federal agencies by passing his FCC Act (S-3624) and REINS Act (S-3826). “Regulatory reform will be a top priority for Republicans in the next Congress,” said DeMint, a Commerce Committee member. “I intend to prevent the FCC or any government agency from unilaterally burdening our recovering economy with baseless regulation."

The FCC order didn’t satisfy all Democrats on the Hill, either. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., plans to introduce her own net neutrality bill, she said. “While the open Internet order the Commissioners voted on today represents an improvement over the initial draft, I am disappointed and concerned that the rules don’t do enough to make sure the Internet remains a source of American innovation and economic growth.”

"While many champions of the open Internet would have preferred a stricter decision -- and I myself have real reservations about treating wireless broadband differently from wired broadband -- I think today’s decision is a meaningful step forward,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said the FCC order “is not perfect, and it does not contain all the protections and priorities that I've advocated for since I introduced the first-ever net neutrality legislation almost three years ago.” Markey wanted “one regulatory framework for wireless and wireline” and “an explicit ban on paid prioritization,” he said. But the order “marks the beginning of a new phase in the effort to preserve an open, unfettered Internet,” he said.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., would support future revisions to net neutrality rules. “The Commission’s framework constitutes a floor, not a ceiling, on basic protections,” he said. “If the rule’s protections prove insufficient and consumers and innovation suffer, they will need to be strengthened, and I will vigorously support that effort.”