FCC You Soon

The new Democratic majority in the House is wasting no time in preparing its oversight efforts. “We’re getting ready to send a letter over to the [Federal Communications Commission] letting them know we intend to have a lot more oversight hearings and we want to start getting them on their schedule early,” said Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA). He predicted an FCC oversight hearing is “not going to be too much later” than January, if not then. He plans to meet with incoming House Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) next week to game out the subcommittee agenda. Rep. Doyle admitted his effort to restore Obama-era net neutrality regulations via the Congressional Review Act is likely dead. “It just doesn’t have the kind of the push it would need to get us over the top,” Rep. Doyle said. The petition to force a vote has been stalled at 177 signatures since mid-July, and it requires 218. Democrats won’t be able to use the CRA tool in the next Congress to revive the rules. “We’re coming to the end of the session and this lame duck’s going to be dealing with a lot of things that are probably going to take precedence,” said Rep. Doyle.