Democratic Senators Force Vote On Net Neutrality

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, announced in a tweet Monday that she signed on to become the 30th cosponsor of a bill to overturn the recent FCC decision that reversed net neutrality rules. Her support means that the Senate will have to hold a vote to overturn the the rules ending open internet protections passed during the Obama administration. 

McCaskill is cosponsoring a bill introduced in December by Missouri Sen. Ed Markey, also a Democrat, to disapprove the FCC's rules ending net neutrality protections. Because the bill has 30 sponsors, Markey can force the Senate to vote on his bill under the Congressional Review Act. This act gives Congress the ability to overturn new federal regulations with a joint resolution passed with a simple majority in both the Senate and the House, and the president would also have to sign the bill. 

It seems unlikely that Congress, with Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, would pass the resolution. But a vote in the Senate would put senators on the record in an election year.

Markey and his bill's cosponsors want to restore regulations that ensure that internet service providers, like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon, for example, treat all websites and online content equally. In December, the FCC voted along party lines to undo the Obama-era net neutrality rules.

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