Net neutrality policy still up in the air under President Trump

While the Federal Communications Commission may repeal the net neutrality rules, the Republican-controlled Congress may take a different path. Lawmakers will likely push for legislation, similar to a proposal from early 2015, that would write basic net neutrality protections into law, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) said recently. A law passed by Congress would supersede any actions taken at the FCC. Even though the FCC may move to repeal its reclassification, Chairman Thune called for a bipartisan agreement on some baseline rules.

Meanwhile, supporters of strong net neutrality rules vow to fight any effort to repeal the rules and rescind the classification of broadband as a regulated service "Chairman Pai's FCC cannot move quickly to dismantle protections supported by the vast majority of the American people," said Matt Wood, policy director at digital rights group Free Press. "While Pai's boss, Donald Trump, may have little respect for the rule of law, administrative law still binds the FCC." Congress could pass legislation, but that's not a given, Wood added. That's "assuming this Congress can get anything done, unlike its recent do-nothing predecessors," he said. "But the current rules are the common-sense floor for any new law, not the overreach that members of the current majority in Congress and the FCC preposterously make them out to be."