FCC Under Multi-front GOP Push to Ramp Down

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler was under more pressure than from just the House and Senate Commerce Committee chairs to ramp down his regulatory agenda.

Wheeler cited letters from those chairs, Fred Upton of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and John Thune of the Senate Commerce committee, as well as requests from the FCC's two Republicans, for pulling four "controversial" items from the FCC's Nov. 17 agenda.

But there was also a Nov. 15 letter to all federal agencies, executive and independent, seeming a similar lack of activity.

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In that letter, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, joined by the chairs of all the House committees, including Upton, cautioned agencies, including the FCC and Federal Trade Commission, according to a spokesperson for the majority leader, against "finalizing pending rules or regulations in the Administration's last days."

They warned that should their counsel be ignored "be aware that we will work with our colleagues to ensure that Congress scrutinizes your actions--and, if appropriate, overturn them..."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.