Pai's Open Internet Actions Should Create Legislative Incentives, Thune Says

“I’m kind of anxious to see what he does tomorrow,” Thune said in an interview Tuesday. “We’ve had conversations with them, not about specifically what they’re going to propose but basically along the lines of, whatever they do, if it starts moving away from the 2015 order, it creates hopefully additional incentives for legislative action. And I think ultimately that’s the best way to solve this and give us certainty.”

Thune and ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., negotiated on a compromise bill, never released. They resumed discussions earlier this year (see 1702030044).

“We’ve been given a preliminary briefing,” Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us Tuesday of Pai’s pending actions. “It was staff to staff.” Wicker said he hasn't personally been briefed but said he has high hopes and expectations for Pai's announcement: “The Title II Depression-era utility-style regulation will be replaced with something more workable.”

House Democrats requested a briefing but were denied on account of scheduling, said a spokesman for House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “Our office has not been briefed on what the proposal will entail,” a spokesman for Nelson said. House Republican aides didn’t comment on possible briefings. The FCC didn't comment on possible outreach to Capitol Hill.

House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., sent Pai a letter Monday asking his office to “fully brief Congress about these [net neutrality] discussions and document any conversations that you have had with outside groups on the issue of rolling back, or in any way modifying, the FCC’s current net neutrality protections.” He referred to the meetings Pai had with tech company representatives last week and referred to a “greater duty” to brief Congress. He asked that documentation of the discussions be publicly available on the FCC website.

Thune said he doesn't “know the particulars” of what Pai will unveil. “I’m aware he’s going to be making a speech tomorrow,” he said. “They’ve got a meeting scheduled I think for May, and I think he’ll probably talk about what’s going to happen at the May meeting tomorrow. … I haven’t seen any outlines of the speech. I’ve spoken with him, obviously. But I think where he heads with this is still kind of a decision that’s up to him and the commission.”

'Good News'?

Some Hill Republicans see promise. A Title II rollback would “be good news because I think what the Obama administration did, what Chairman [Tom] Wheeler did, was very anti-growth and anti-innovation, so that would be a step in the right direction,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a member of Commerce and chair of the Homeland Security Committee, in an interview.

“I’ve had a lot to say about Title II in the past,” Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a fierce critic of the classification for broadband, told us. “I’m not sure exactly what he may announce this week, so I want to see what he has to say.”

Many Democrats and certain public interest groups see the Title II component of the 2015 order as crucial to the open internet protections. Pallone, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, Doyle, Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., and Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., are expected to discuss Pai’s actions in a news event on Capitol Hill 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at the House Triangle, a media advisory said. "Members and Commissioner Clyburn will stress the importance of preserving the FCC’s net neutrality rules, which require all internet traffic be treated equally," the advisory said.

“We’ll be pushing back,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told reporters of possible FCC rollback of parts of the order. “Americans know the Trump FCC is coming to deliver the Internet to Big Cable companies and they’re ready to fight tooth and nail to defend it,” said Wyden, a longtime proponent of Title II, in a statement. “The vote in Congress to repeal protections against ISPs selling consumers’ private browsing information proved that Republicans are representing Big Cable and not the 4 million Americans who demand strong net neutrality protections. Trump and his commissioner Ajit Pai are going to serve up some outrageous spin to defend these giveaways to Big Cable. I led the fight for net neutrality because the internet is a lifeline for jobs, commerce and education, especially in rural America. No one is going to be fooled by Pai’s attempt to demolish the foundation of the internet, just so Big Cable can rack up bigger profits.” A Wyden spokesman said his office wasn't briefed on the matter.

“Ready to fight to protect #NetNeutrality & a free and open internet?” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., tweeted Tuesday. “@realDonaldTrump has it on the chopping block.” Markey held a rally earlier this year suggesting any rollback would prompt millions of people fighting back. Markey, Wyden, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Free Press President Craig Aaron and Fight for the Future Campaign Director Evan Greer plan a press call Wednesday to defend the order. “Pai is scheduled to outline a strategy to dismantle the FCC’s net neutrality rules on Wednesday,” a Markey advisory said. “Republicans have stated their clear intention to weaken or roll-back net neutrality rules, putting big broadband companies and corporate interests ahead of consumers and competition.”

Messaging Challenge

The Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval that killed the FCC ISP privacy rules was prompted by the Title II reclassification. Debate on its passage ignited intense partisan fighting in March, and several critics raised the issue at town halls during the recent congressional recess (see 1704170048 and 1704180054).

On net neutrality, “it would take a significant effort to educate people about what the issue is, what’s being proposed, and sort of what the alternative could be in terms of legislative action,” Thune told us. “I would think there’d have to be a much better effort made at sharing information and educating people than there was on the privacy CRA, for sure. There was a lot of misunderstandings about what it was -- there’s still a lot of misinformation out there. I do think it could have been explained a lot better and should have been explained a lot better. It’s a lesson that with a complicated issue like that, you’ve got to take the time to really inform people about what you’re trying to do.”

Johnson anticipates a likely tough political fight on the partisan issue of a Title II rollback. “Everything is always difficult," he said. "And the left has hit on this term ‘net neutrality.’ Sure sounds good, but it’s really contrary to the very purposes it’s meant to accomplish." Wicker told us he wasn't worried about the challenges surrounding political messaging.

Thune said he hopes Pai’s actions “drive” legislative negotiation “a lot” in the coming days. “We’re having conversations already, but I think the Democrats are also, like us, waiting to see what the FCC does,” he told us. “And I think there’s going to have to be something that compels some interest and some action on the part of Democrats on the committee. But I know that we have had conversations with Democrats on our committee who are interested in legislating in this area. But as long as that order’s in place, there’s no real reason for them to do that.”