WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s little secret that they are very much against the “Build Back Better” reconciliation package passed on a party-line vote by Democrats. But, two leading Republicans on the powerful House Energy & Commerce Committee are disgusted over what they perceive is an “unprecedented influx of funding” to the FCC.
In another reminder that bipartisanship is largely absent on Capitol Hill, House Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Republican Leader Bob Latta (R-Ohio) fired off a strongly worded letter to Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Subcommittee Chairman Michael Doyle (D-Pa.) urging them to hold a Commission oversight hearing expressly to address the dollars going to the FCC.
It’s a follow-up to a May 24 request that a FCC oversight hearing be convened to review the ongoing activities and programs at the agency. Neither Pallone or Doyle, who have long been at odds with Republicans and openly despised the leadership of former Chairman Ajit Pai, have responded to that ask from nearly six months ago.
“It has now been over one year since the FCC has appeared before the Energy and Commerce Committee,” Rodgers and Latta said in the letter. “Since then, Congress provided over $10 billion to the agency to keep Americans connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thus, due to the lack of oversight by the House E&C Committee, “we have no information about how these programs are being implemented or if they are effective,” Rodgers and Latta concluded. “Despite this lack of information, Democrats provided an additional $25 billion to the FCC through their partisan ‘American Rescue Plan’ and infrastructure packages and want to give the agency more funds in another partisan Reconciliation package. This is an unprecedented influx of funding for the FCC and not a responsible way to spend taxpayer dollars. We are concerned about the potential for waste, fraud, and abuse that may occur without proper oversight by this Committee.”
Meanwhile, despite “a historic delay in nominating a permanent FCC Chair,” Rodgers and Latta are pleased that the “Biden-Harris Administration has finally nominated candidates to fill the vacancies at this important agency.”
