Trump Administration shrugs off FCC court loss to fight California net neutrality law

The Trump Administration and broadband industry are resuming their fight against California's network neutrality law, with the Department of Justice and Internet service provider lobby groups filing new complaints against the state Aug 5. The case is nearly two years old but was put on hold because California in Oct 2018 agreed to suspend enforcement of its law until after litigation over the Federal Communications Commission's repeal of US net neutrality rules and the FCC's attempt to preempt state net neutrality laws. That lawsuit was decided in Oct 2019 when the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit upheld the FCC repeal of its own rules but overturned the FCC's attempt to impose a blanket, nationwide preemption of any state net neutrality law.

"At bottom, the Commission lacked the legal authority to categorically abolish all 50 States' statutorily conferred authority to regulate intrastate communications," judges in that case wrote. But that doesn't prevent the Trump Administration and ISPs from trying to block state laws on a case-by-case basis. The appeals window in the FCC case closed in July, allowing the California case to move forward in US District Court for the Eastern District of California. Now that the Trump Administration and broadband industry have filed amended complaints, California has until Sept 16 to file briefs supporting its net neutrality law.

Despite the FCC's preemption order being overturned in court, the DOJ's amended complaint Aug 5 argued that California's net neutrality law "is preempted by federal law and therefore violates the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution." The DOJ also asked for a preliminary injunction that would prevent enforcement of the California law while the case is pending.