House Commerce Committee Ranking Members Register Concerns with FCC Republicans' CPAC Appearances

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Mike Doyle (D-PA) wrote to the Federal Communications Commission's Republican members to register their serious concerns about those members appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Feb. “Your willingness to attend and help promote a political rally raises serious concerns about your roles as leaders of an independent federal agency, and the potential of taxpayer dollars being spent towards political ends,” the Ranking Members wrote. They said they are looking for information and legal analysis on "a number of ethically questionable situations." They pointed to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's surprise award of the NRA's "Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award" (a rifle) for sticking to his guns on rolling back network neutrality regulations in the face of personal attacks and threats from net neutrality activists. Chairman Pai did not accept the rifle, which the Ranking Members commended, but they suggested he should not have put himself in the position of getting the surprise award. They also pointed to a complaint that FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly violated the Hatch Act prohibition on federal employees engaging in partisan activity by calling for the re-election of President Donald Trump.