Joe Biden Win Could Curb Deals, Revive Net Neutrality in FCC Pivot

A victory by Joe Biden in the Nov. 3 election could usher in an abrupt change in the nation’s telecommunications policy, restoring so-called net neutrality regulation and shifting the Republican drive to rein in social media outlets, among other things. Biden hasn’t talked much about the Federal Communications Commission during the campaign, but his party’s platform is specific. It calls for restoring net neutrality rules put in place under then-President Barack Obama when Biden served as vice president and taking a harder line on telecommunications mergers.

Current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who was appointed to the post by President Donald Trump, has taken up a Trump administration demand for a tougher social media policy. Earlier in his term he reversed Democratic policies on net neutrality and waved through T-Mobile’s bid to buy Sprint. If Biden wins, the FCC, which currently is at full five-member strength, could begin the new presidential term with a 2-to-1 Democratic majority, allowing it to move quickly. Republican Commissioner Michael O'Rielly is leaving at the end of the current Congress and chairmen traditionally depart as a new administration arrives. Chairman Pai hasn’t indicated what he’ll do. He can stay on as a commissioner but a new president could strip him of the chairmanship and its power to control what policies advance to a vote. If Pai stays after a Biden win, “he’s denuded of power to do much of anything except to block things,” said Benton Senior Counselor Andrew Jay Schwartzman.