White House slams cuts to FCC, network neutrality

The White House panned a bill that would lower funding levels across various government agencies including the Federal Communications Commission, where it would shrink the agency's coffers and scrap its network neutrality regulations in the latest of several GOP attempts to kill controversial rules.

In a policy statement issued by the Office of Management and Budget, the Administration said that several portions of a spending bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee last month along party lines are cause for "concerns." Among the grievances is the funding level for the FCC for fiscal year 2012, which the bill sets at $319 million. President Obama's 2012 budget requested $354.2 million for the FCC, up from $335.8 million in 2010. The FCC funding level proposed by House Republicans would "make it increasingly difficult to manage its expanded responsibilities, such as auctioning additional spectrum, overseeing mergers, and reforming the Universal Service Fund," the OMB said.