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Federal Trade Commission acting Chief Technology Officer Neil Chilson says that the FTC has the tech expertise to enforce network neutrality in the absence of Federal Communications Commission rules against blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization, but that it does not need a "granular, micromanaging" level of technical detail to protect consumers and competition -- it is not writing specific rules -- but rather to focus on the end effects of a particular practice.

President Donald Trump has extended the cyber attack national emergency, which was declared by President Barack Obama in April 2015 but would have terminated April 1, 2018, while elsewhere on the broadband front, the White House was promoting efforts by Republicans in Congress to further broadband infrastructure buildouts, which the Administration has said are a priority inrural areas. In December 2018, President Trump issued an executive order with added steps to address that cybersecurity emergency.

The Federal Communications Commission has taken the next step toward instituting its network neutrality rollback. On March 27, the FCC signaled it has submitted the enhanced information-collection portion of the Restoring Internet Freedom Order to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), according to the Federal Register, which plans to publish that OMB submission March 28 -- starting a 30-day comment period to the OMB. 

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 look

In a letter to Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rob Portman (R-OH), Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said that there is little the FCC can do to prevent public comments filed under false names, or under stolen identities or to prevent mass bogus filings in what is meant to be an open, public, process.

On March 22, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on an order to streamline environmental and historic preservation reviews for 5G facilities deployment. Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Raul Ruiz (D-CA) wrote FCC Commissioner Brandan Carr, who is spearheading the FCC proposal, to ask him to reconsider, saying the order will short-circuit safeguards for tribal lands. The proposed order would render the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) toothless when it comes to protecting "tribally-significant" sites.

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) has introduced a bill that would require on-air disclosures of content from foreign entities. The Foreign Entities Reform Act of 2018 (FERA) would amend the Communications Act to require broadcast, cable and satellite companies to disclose through the duration of the content when it has been supplied by a registered foreign agent, like RT, the Russia-backed video content that the Intelligence Community has concluded tried to influence the 2016 election.