Republicans are trying to defund net neutrality. Will it work?

It's no secret that many Republicans hate the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules, which went into effect this June and regulate Internet providers like legacy telephone companies. Some now want to use Congress' power of the purse to roll those regulations back. If it works, Congress could forbid the FCC from using its budget to enforce net neutrality and give Internet providers a come-from-behind victory.

During the week of July 20, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill that contains an amendment singling out the FCC and net neutrality. Notably, the rider would prohibit the FCC from using its most powerful regulatory tool to police Internet providers -- Title II of the Communications Act. A similar funding bill in the House goes even further, blocking the FCC from enforcing any of the net neutrality regulations until an industry lawsuit to overturn the rules gets resolved. Oral arguments in that case are expected in December or January. But would President Barack Obama even sign a funding bill that has an anti-net neutrality rider attached? This is a tricky question that wraps in a lot of non-tech issues: If the bill gets to the Oval Office, President Obama would have to choose between an issue that he has strongly supported and the continued functioning of the federal government. It's a tough call, and could go either way. But it probably won't even come to that, because Republicans appear split on these funding bill riders. Ultimately, this disagreement over strategy may be what foils the amendments.