House FCC Oversight Hearing Highlights Partisan Tensions Over Deregulatory Agenda

Key Republicans backed and Democrats attacked deregulatory FCC policies under Chairman Ajit Pai at a House Communications Subcommittee oversight hearing Wednesday. GOP leaders lauded commission actions to improve emergency communications, update media regulations and promote broadband deployment. Democrats blasted the agency's net neutrality rollback and other deregulatory moves as favoring big industry players and even complicating national security. Pai and other commissioners had provided prepared testimony (see 1807240056).

Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said recently enacted laws were bolstering FCC efforts. Reauthorization legislation is helping the commission "enhance public safety technologies and alerts, strengthen our national security, increase broadband deployment, and protect consumers while fostering competition and innovation in the communications marketplace," she said. She said the Ray Baum Act will help the FCC "in removing federal barriers to broadband deployment, increasing the amount of available spectrum, and funding broadband."

Ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., fired a broadside. Since the last oversight hearing in October, "it seems that at almost every opportunity the commission has chosen corporations over consumers -- and failed in its duty to uphold the public interest," he said, taking umbrage at a recent Pai comment comparing critics of his net neutrality deregulation to "chicken littles." Doyle said the FCC proposed "gutting the Lifeline program," took steps to encourage broadcast consolidation, set up a "bizarre and onerous" Mobility Fund II challenge process and was "asleep at the wheel" on privacy. He said the FCC relaxed business data service, copper retirement and discontinuance rules so much that NTIA is concerned about the impact on federal agencies, national security and public safety (see 1807200057). He did welcome the hearing designation order sending Sinclair's proposed buy of Tribune to an administrative law judge. President Donald Trump's tweet slamming the HDO also got scrutiny Wednesday (see 1807250057).

Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore, praised FCC efforts to facilitate emergency communications and address media regulations. "We seem trapped in this constant time warp that regulations of the 1970s, or the 1930s for that matter, somehow work" now, he said. The rhetoric around these issues has "become like watching the opening of an old television show, waiting to get to the main programming. We sit here and listen to the same old falsehoods that we ripped away privacy and net neutrality protections, while the reality is all we have done is restore a bipartisan equilibrium and regulatory framework that existed just three years ago."

Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., criticized GOP colleagues for not holding more oversight hearings. "The commission has repeatedly acted contrary to its core mission," he said. "In a series of partisan votes, the agency dismantled protections for consumers and initiated numerous proceedings designed to benefit big corporations." He criticized net neutrality reversal, children's TV and Lifeline proposals, lack of action on cybersecurity, and moves to ease media ownership rules. "While the commission rightfully acknowledged that Sinclair’s proposed merger and related divestitures may violate the law, the rollback of the media ownership rules opens the door for the next Sinclair," he said. Pallone pressed commissioners on Trump's Sinclair/Tribune tweet.

Pai cited efforts to move forward with an "aggressive" schedule of high-band auctions and make spectrum available for 5G, support telemedicine, and spur broadband deployment through subsidy auctions, targeted regulation of pole attachments (see 1807250039) and broad deregulatory efforts "cutting red tape," including for small-cell wireless deployment. "We're on the right track, and I'm confident we'll continue to see positive results as our policies take hold," he said, citing recent data on broadband investment (see 1807250021) and fiber connections to buildings as promising.

Commissioner Mike O'Rielly called for further efforts to prevent state 911 fee diversion, ensure federal agency coordination to avoid duplicative broadband buildouts and make spectrum available. Commissioner Brendan Carr focused on wireless infrastructure and "connected care everywhere" initiatives. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel criticized net neutrality and Lifeline moves, and called for better broadband mapping and an investigation of distributed denial-of-service attacks on the commission's comment system. She was hopeful about the 5G efforts and welcomed the Sinclair order.

Prodded by Blackburn, Rosenworcel said she doesn't believe the FCC has authority to regulate internet privacy under its Communications Act Title I ancillary jurisdiction, and believes Telecom Act Section 706 doesn't "clearly" provide such authority. Doyle asked commissioners to commit to keeping smaller, "census-tract" size licenses in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service, drawing non-committal answers from FCC Republicans and a Rosenworcel comment that smaller licenses are needed (see 1807250055).

Asked by Doyle, Pai said he hadn't recused himself from a location privacy controversy involving Securus Communications (and others) despite his past legal representation of the inmate calling service provider. He said he got an opinion from the Office of General Counsel. Our related Freedom of Information Act request has been pending for almost a year (see 1708100020).

Legislators voiced concern about cybersecurity. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., pressed Pai on why the FCC didn't respond to lawmaker queries for information on the DDoS attacks. Pai said OGC advised him that the agency needed a committee letter making the request. He said the FCC inspector general is doing a "fantastic job" investigating the issue, and he urged members to "stay tuned" as more information is expected "very soon."