Last week, U.S. Sens. John Thune, R-SD, who leads the GOP on the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband; and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; led more than 40 of their colleagues, including every member of the Senate Republican leadership team, in urging Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to abandon her proposal to reinstate Obama-era regulations on the internet.
Florida Republican U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott signed the letter.
“Re-imposing heavy-handed, public-utility regulations on the internet would threaten the progress our country has made since 2017, and it would steer our country out of the fast lane and into a world of less competition, less choice, less investment, slower speeds, and higher prices,” wrote the senators. “Further, the FCC lacks this statutory authority over broadband internet access. Any attempt by the FCC to reinstate net neutrality regulations and the onerous rules of Title II on internet service providers will not survive judicial review. The FCC has pushed net neutrality and lost in court – more than once – already, and two of President Obama’s former solicitors general have warned that reclassification by the FCC cannot survive the major questions doctrine.”