Sixth Circuit Title II Oral Arguments on FCC Definitions Center on Major Questions

The three-judge panel hearing the case over the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) now-stayed order to regulate the internet using Title II rules peppered the parties in the case with questions about the definitions of “information services,” “telecommunications” and “telecommunications services.” The panel also questioned the relevance of the Supreme Court’s reversal of the Chevron doctrine and the ambiguities created by the FCC finding on both sides of the Title II question in recent years. Perhaps the most interesting discussion in the session in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals was over the “Major Questions Doctrine,” the concept that a federal agency should not decide an issue of national significance without clear Congressional authorization.  “We agree this is a statutory interpretation case, not a Major Questions case. The Major Questions doctrine is triggered by an agency’s unexpected claim to significant power,” said Jacob Lewis, the FCC’s associate general counsel.