Key GOP Lawmakers Ask Court to Void FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules

WASHINGTON, August 20, 2024 – Telecom-focused Republican lawmakers asked the Sixth Circuit Monday to side with the internet service providers challenging federal net neutrality rules.

The lawmakers included Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, both of which have oversight authority over the Federal Communications Commission, which adopted the net neutrality rules in April.

The GOP lawmakers said the FCC’s rules contradicted Congress’s deregulatory intent when it passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 with language that specified that “information services” received less regulatory guardrails than “telecommunications services.”