D.C. Memo: Rosenworcel Confident Courts Will Back Her Rules

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Courts: Despite a considerable setback on Net Neutrality, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said she remained confident the "FCC's rules and decisions will withstand judicial review under the Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and other applicable precedent." She expressed her optimism in a July 31 letter to a few House GOP committee leaders posted to the agency's website on Tuesday. Rosenworcel also disclosed that FCC lawyers were involved in 40 cases in 6 separate courts of appeal challenging actions taken by the agency since Jan. 20, 2021. In Loper, the Supreme Court abolished the Chevron Doctrine, which required federal courts to defer to the FCC's reasonable reading of ambiguous laws passed by Congress. Chief Justice John Roberts said Chevron deference gave the FCC an unfair advantage and handcuffed judges from enforcing the best reading of a law. The FCC suffered a loss on Aug.1 when a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati blocked Rosenworcel from enforcing the agency's new Net Neutrality rules. The court indicated the rules ran afoul of the Supreme Court's Major Questions Doctrine, which bars the FCC from resolving issues of vast economic and political significance without clear authorization from Congress. Oral arguments in the Net Neutrality case are set for the last week in October, 2024.