Senate panel to grill FCC on Internet rules

According to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), the Committee is slated to grill all five Federal Communications Commission members during an oversight hearing on March 18. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the four other commissioners will answer questions about the agency's "over-reaching" network neutrality order. Chairman Thune left open the option of blocking the regulations through the appropriations process. He also said there would be interest in pushing a vote of disapproval. "We are going to keep all those options available, and I think a resolution of disapproval is something that there will be some interest in if in fact we can't find some Democrats to work with us on this," he said.

Chairman Thune said he still prefers to pass legislation that could override the FCC's plan. "As stakeholders and lawmakers alike see the FCC proposal mired by legal challenges, it will become increasingly clear that a legislative proposal is the only way to ensure that protections go into effect quickly and survive any legal challenge," Chairman Thune said. While his Committee is in talks with Democrats in Congress, he lamented that he has "not found a willing partner at the FCC or the White House."