In a letter that was released earlier today, Senators John Thune (R-SD), ranking member of the Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, and Ted Cruz (R-TX), ranking member of the Commerce Committee, called FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenthal's proposal to subject broadband Internet access services to public utility regulation under Title II of the Communications Act a "historic mistake."
More than forty GOP Senators, including the entire Senate Republican leadership team, added their names to the letter.
In the letter, the Senators warn that "[r]e-imposing heavy-handed, public-utility regulations would threaten the progress our country has made since 2017, and it would steer our country out of the fast lane and into a world of less competition, less choice, less investment, slower speeds, and higher prices."
They also emphasize that, because "the FCC lacks this statutory authority over broadband internet access," any attempt to reclassify broadband under Title II "will not survive judicial review."
In a September 26, 2023, press release posted to the FSF Blog, Free State Foundation President Randolph May characterized Chairwoman Rosenworcel's proposal as "foolhardy," made similar predictions regarding its ability to survive application of the "major questions doctrine," and cautioned that, despite claims to the contrary, it inevitably would result in rate regulation.
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