Should the Resolution of Disapproval to deprive FCC net neutrality regulations currently working its way through the House of Representatives also manage to clear the Senate, it will likely run into an obstacle 16 blocks west of the Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC: a veto pen.
The House Rules Committee considered “H.J. Res 37 — Disapproving the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission with respect to regulating the internet and broadband industry practices” Monday 4/4/11, and reported it out of committee on a party line 7-3 vote.
House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chair Greg Walden (R-OR) sponsored the measure and argued in its favor at the session, and his opposite number, Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-CA) argued against it.
Eshoo believes the bill will not proceed beyond the House, where the Republican Party holds sway. Democrats still have control of the Senate.
But if it does make it to the White House, administration officials at the Office of Management and Budget have indicated that they will advise President Barack Obama to break out his veto pen. “If the President is presented with a Resolution of Disapproval that would not safeguard the free and open Internet, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the Resolution,” the OMB in a statement.
