Following letters from Congress requesting the FCC refrain from any “controversial” moves before Trump takes office and a new Congress meets, the agency announced today that it has removed all of the major items from a meeting set for tomorrow.
All of the major agenda items scrapped
An FCC spokesperson confirmed to The Verge that the agenda items — which included votes on business data service price caps, mobile broadband funding, and roaming standards — were halted in response to the letters. (The notes were spotted earlier today by Ars Technica.)
In a Senate letter, addressed to Chairman Tom Wheeler, Republican Senator John Thune writes that any action taken in the final months of the Obama presidency “will receive particular scrutiny.”
“I strongly urge the FCC to avoid directing its attention and resources in the coming months to complex, partisan, or otherwise controversial items that the new Congress and new Administration will have an interest in reviewing,” the letter reads. A letter from leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee making the same request was also sent.
Thune’s office noted yesterday that a similar request was made before Obama became president, and was honored then by the FCC.
A similar move was made before Barack Obama took office
When Trump assumes the presidency in January, he will also have control of FCC appointments, and the agency will swing back to conservative control. The prospects under consideration tomorrow “remain on circulation,” according to the agency, but their prospects do not look good.
Earlier this year, the FCC was also considering a measure meant to provide more options for how consumers watch content usually tied to a cable box, but after controversy, the plan was delayed, and now also seems likely to be scrapped in the shadow of a Trump administration.