Republican Reps Attack More FCC Regulations in Finance Bill

Republican and Democratic Reps took their fight over various Federal Communications Commission proposals and actions to the House floor as they debated the omnibus Financial Services Bill that includes the FCC's appropriation. Democratic Reps tried to block FCC-targeted efforts, but were rebuffed. Republican Reps even added the FCC's broadband privacy proposal to the list of actions blocked by the bill. The House's Republican majority are looking to undo through riders on that must-pass bill what the FCC's Republican minority could not defeat with their dissenting votes, including new network neutrality rules, the set-top box proposal, and the broadband privacy framework. The bill also prevents the FCC from tightening joint sales agreement rules, as it has proposed in its quadrennial media ownership review circulated the week of June 27. Those proposals are unlikely to make it into legislation that gets past President Barack Obama's desk, given his support for Title II reclassification and "unlocking" set-top boxes in particular.

Democratic Reps tried to head off the Republican efforts with amendments offered on the floor to strike some of the offending FCC portions, but were defeated. The bill as it currently stands would not allow the FCC to spend funds to enforce its Open Internet order. House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) introduced the amendment to strike the moratorium on funding for the Open Internet order, but it was defeated.