The FCC's Democratic Commissioners on Net Neutrality Vote: 'We Have a Mess on our Hands'

In separate phone interviews conducted last week, The Verge spoke with Federal Communications Commissioners Clyburn and Rosenworcel about this week’s vote, and what happens next.

When asked, "The New York attorney general made it very clear that he feels like he’s being stonewalled. What do you attribute that to?" FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said, "It has been regular and customary practice for federal authorities to work hand in hand [with] their state counterparts to get to the bottom of problems like this. Our failure to cooperate with our colleagues at the state level feels unusual and to me does not seem right."

Regarding the comments, Commissioner Clyburn was told, "The chairman’s response has been that this isn’t a popularity contest, and if you have a legitimate legal argument, then they’re listening to that. But in other cases they’re not just going to be counting up comments and responding to it on that front." Clyburn responded by saying, "I find that interesting. A 'legitimate legal argument,' in one of the most expensive ecosystems to file a legal claim ever. Just because I don’t have enough money to hire a lawyer to beat the pavement at the FCC does not mean that my traffic is not being throttled, that the terms and conditions that I thought I agreed on, that they are being realized. I find it perplexing that all of a sudden it boils down, when it comes to public comments and a position that you don’t agree with, that all of a sudden, from where I sit, you are delegitimizing the opinions of millions of people. I found that very contrary to the oath that I took eight-plus years ago, and I don’t think it is a very attractive posture for anyone who is a representative, who sits on the Federal Communications Commission in this country."