FCC supervisory hearing to be held Tuesday

By Adam R Jacobson

Leave it to the House Energy and Commerce Committee to give the FCC’s five voting members one week — including the Independence Day holiday — to prepare for a recently announced oversight hearing convened by outgoing Republican Party Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

Word of the hearing, titled “Federal Communications Commission Budget for Fiscal Year 2025,” arrived Tuesday afternoon via House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Rodgers, a Spokane Republican who is not seeking re-election, and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, an Ohio Republican.

Don’t expect much discussion of key radio regulatory issues at the meeting scheduled for July 9 at 10:00 a.m. on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Instead, Rodgers and Latta will focus their discussion on the commission’s decision to introduce Title II classifications for broadband internet, establishing “net neutrality” — something Republicans struck out after the FCC, led by Democrat Tom Wheeler, introduced the rule.

Given the Supreme Court’s decision last week to strike down the “Chevron deference rule,” which until now had left ambiguous issues in court up to the agency’s “experts,” a lawsuit filed by either side against the FCC over its decision to restore “net neutrality” could now leave it up to a federal judge to decide what’s fair.

“We look forward to discussing with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and other commissioners how we can restore the FCC to its mission of providing universal access to broadband services and closing the digital divide,” Rodgers and Latta said in a joint statement.