House Vote On Net Neutrality-Blocking Rule Delayed

A vote on the House joint resolution blocking the FCC's
network neutrality rules will not happen until at least Friday as the House
debated Thursday whether or not to pass some form of appropriation stop-gap measure
to keep the government operating past Friday. A
Republican-backed continuing resolution was passed earlier in the day, but
the president has said he will veto it.

The FCC-blocking resolution had tentatively been scheduledto be voted on Thursday,
but the budget battle raged on on the House floor, with mock tombstones for
Medicare being introduced at one point and the President sending over a written
warning that he would veto the CR it if got to his desk, although the
Senate is highly unlikely to approve it.

According to the Web site of House Speaker John Boehner,
the "possible" consideration of H.J. Res. 37 has been rescheduled for
April 8, with an hour of debate with Democrats leading off.

The resolution would invalidate the FCC's Dec. 21 vote to
expand and codify its network neutrality rules. But like the CR, the drill is
expected to be that the Republican-controlled House passes it and it goes no
further. The president has been counseled to veto the FCC resolution, too, if
it got that far.

Some Republicans also tried, unsuccessfully, to defund
implementation of the FCC rule as part of the budget cut.

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.