Hill, The

President Donald Trump's former campaign adviser, Roger Stone, claims he "had to kill" an "insane effort" by Fox News host Sean Hannity to become White House chief of staff. "Sean Hannity and his lackey Bill Shine blocked me from Fox because I blocked Sean's insane effort to become @realDonaldTrump [White House chief of staff]," Stone tweeted May 2.

Shine resigned from Fox News as its co-president on May 1 amid criticism of his handling of sexual harassment claims. Hannity quickly responded to Stone, denying he ever asked for consideration for the job, which was awarded to former Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. "Roger, with all due respect, I NEVER EVER ASKED to be considered for any WH job, nor would I ever have accepted, nor is that my skill set," Hannity tweeted.

Sen Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said the way that Federal Communications Chairman Ajit Pai introduced his plan to roll back network neutrality may have skirted the law.

“He sounded more like a political person taking a political position than someone who was going to really inquiry into the best path forward,” said Sen Schatz. “I think it is legally consequential.” Sen Schatz said the FCC chairman may have violated a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” (NPRM) statute by appearing to take a clear position on a proposal that hasn't even been considered. The statute states that the FCC must first consider public comment before taking a specific position on a policy. “They are supposed to receive public comment. They are supposed to establish a public record,” Sen Schatz said. “You would never have anybody in judiciary announcing their position, declaring that they will ‘win in the end,’ that ‘this is a fight and they intend to win it.’"

“It’s for others in the litigation space to figure out whether there’s something there or not. But the fact that he is announcing the outcome in advance seems contrary to the statute.”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) unveiled his committee’s agenda on technology and innovation. Under his "blueprint," Chairman Goodlatte hopes to see his committee tackle top tech issues, including changes to surveillance and encryption laws, and on high-skilled immigration.

On immigration, he told reporters the committee was working to “find a balanced solution to increase the high-skilled talent pool to promote job growth through visa and green card reforms,” while also “protecting job opportunities for similarly qualified Americans.” He also focused much of his remarks on surveillance issues, including proposed reforms to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a controversial provision authorizing US intelligence to surveil noncitizens. Chairman Goodlatte also said he hopes to hold a committee hearing in about how the US accesses communications data in other countries.

President Donald Trump's campaign is accusing CNN of refusing to air its new television ad marking Trump's first 100 days in office. A May 2 press release from the Trump campaign chides the news network, which is a familiar target for the president's ire, arguing CNN is trying to stifle free speech and any positive news about the administration's successes in office.

“It is absolutely shameful to see the media blocking the positive message that President Trump is trying to share with the country. It's clear that CNN is trying to silence our voice and censor our free speech because it doesn't fit their narrative," said Michael Glassner, the Trump campaign's executive director. CNN said that it asked the campaign to remove a “false graphic that says the mainstream media is ‘fake news.’” “The mainstream media is not fake news, and therefore the ad is false,” CNN added in explaining its decision to reject the ad.

Sen Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced a bill to nullify the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rules and prohibit the FCC from issuing a similar rule in the future. Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rand Paul (R-KY), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Ben Sasse (R-NE), and James Inhofe (R-OK) co-sponsored Lee’s bill. The bill is unlikely to receive support from Democrats in the Senate.

Some of the biggest names on the internet are trying to stay out of the contentious, public fight over the future of the Obama-era network neutrality rules. Google and other household names encouraged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enact the rules in 2015. But now with the regulations on the chopping block, those companies believe the change will have little effect on their bottom line and are trying not to get dragged in.

They could face pressure, though, from consumer groups and net neutrality advocates, who see them as crucial allies to saving the rules. Officials at several major tech companies said net neutrality isn't a priority anymore. Many of the companies that were once forceful advocates of the rules no longer think they will be harmed under repeal. Facebook, Google and Microsoft boast market valuations in the hundreds of billions, giving them new power relative to broadband providers.

Facebook has tapped a former New York Times executive to lead the company’s news products team. In the newly created position, Alex Hardiman, who has been leading the social media site’s pages team since leaving the Times in 2016, will be in charge of building tools for news outlets. “As a part of the Facebook Journalism Project, my colleagues and I will work collaboratively with news organizations across the spectrum to build new storytelling formats, local news communities, monetization options, and more,” she said. “We will spend time building better products and tools for journalists, working hand-in-hand with Campbell Brown and her team to strengthen the relationships and value exchange between Facebook and news providers. We will also partner with teams in Facebook to continue curbing the spread of false news.”

A federal appeals court rejected a request to review its decision upholding the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality regulations. The victory for net neutrality supporters comes just days after FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced that he is starting proceedings to repeal the rules, and could set the stage for a Supreme Court showdown.

In its denial for what's called an en banc review, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals cited FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plans to repeal the net neutrality rules. "En banc review would be particularly unwarranted at this point in light of the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the FCC’s Order," the decision reads. "The agency will soon consider adopting a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would replace the existing rule with a markedly different one." "In that light, the en banc court could find itself examining, and pronouncing on, the validity of a rule that the agency had already slated for replacement."

[Commentary] In the coming storm, it will be important not to lose sight of what should be the ultimate policy goal: finding a workable, balanced solution that promotes flourishing innovation throughout the entire Internet, both on the edge and within the core of the network. Under Tom Wheeler, the left-leaning activists got everything they asked for, to the determinant of innovation. Now, under Republican control, we can only hope the other side will resist the same temptation, lest the pendulum keep swinging forever.

The best solution to this issue should be balanced and stable—I say give Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai a shot at stopping the pendulum’s momentum at the bottom of its arc. But at the fourth attempt at net neutrality rules, this is starting to get ridiculous. Congress would do well to start seriously discussing the contours of a compromise so we can put this perennial problem to bed and move on to the real pressing Internet problems, such as closing the digital divide.

[Doug Brake is a senior telecommunications policy analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation]

[Commentary] Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is moving rapidly to resolve the net neutrality mess bequeathed to him by his predecessor, a complicated task under the best of circumstances. In addition to its more obvious benefits, however, this effort offers an early opportunity for the FCC to showcase the chairman’s plan to institutionalize the role of economics in agency decision-making.

The commission has never subjected any of the “net neutrality” options it has considered over the course of many years to a cost-benefit analysis. In its new notice of proposed rulemaking, the FCC proposes to correct that omission.

[Thomas M. Lenard is a senior fellow and president emeritus at the Technology Policy Institute]