GOP lawmaker becomes first to call on FCC to delay net neutrality decision

Republican Rep. Mike Coffman (Colo.) has become the first GOP lawmaker to call for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to delay its vote to repeal net neutrality. 

Repealing the rules that mandate an open internet “may well have significant unanticipated negative consequences,” he wrote in a letter to the chairman of the FCC, according to The Denver Post. 

While Coffman did not say whether he is for or against net neutrality, an Obama-era set of regulations that prevents internet providers from favoring some websites and services, he asked Ajit Pai to allow Congress to debate the issue in hearings. 

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Republican commissioners are expected to scrap the regulations in a party-line vote scheduled for Thursday, which Democrats in the House and Senate are rallying to stop through last-minute legislation. 

Coffman wrote that the decision “should be resolved by the people’s elected representatives, those who choose the direction of government — and those whom the American people can hold accountable for that choice.” 

Republicans have long opposed the regulations as too burdensome on internet providers, discouraging innovation and competition to create faster, higher-performing web services. 

On Tuesday, 39 senators urged Pai to call off his “reckless” proposal to eliminate the regulations.