D.C. Memo: Capitol Hill Republicans Want Court to Strike Down Net Neutrality
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Capitol Hill: Top Capitol Hill Republicans in a court brief Monday said Congress never intended to regulate broadband ISPs as common carriers, claiming that the FCC's Net Neutrality rules ignored decades of regulatory and legislative history in stripping ISPs of their status as unregulated information service providers. The FCC's regulation of ISPs "empowers the agency to impose draconian new burdens on broadband Internet providers, including new taxes and rate regulations that would stifle the continued development and advancement of technology that sets America apart from the rest of the world. The Court should not allow that to happen," the lawmakers said in a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati. On the brief were GOP Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) Ted Budd (N.C.), Eric Schmitt (Mo.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), and Roger Wicker (Miss.). House Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.) and Bob Latta (Oh.) also signed on. Representing the lawmakers was former Trump Attorney General William P. Barr. Under FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, the FCC made extensive use of forbearance authority to shield ISPs from outdated, inapplicable, and excessive regulations, but the lawmakers faulted this approach as an effort to usurp Congress. "The Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that an agency’s unrestrained application of forbearance is tantamount to rewriting a statute," the lawmakers said. The Sixth Circuit — which stayed the Net Neutrality rules on Aug. 1 ahead of oral arguments in late October — also received briefs from academics and trade associations that attacked Net Neutrality as a violation of the Major Questions Doctrine, a drag on infrastructure investment, and a government takeover of the Internet. Among the individuals to submit amicus briefs were Roslyn Layton, a scholar of regulatory economics, and Professor Christopher S. Yoo at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.
