Dem: FCC ‘really screwed’ by GOP appropriators

Republican appropriators “really screwed” the Federal Communications Commission in the appropriations process, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) said during an oversight hearing Tuesday. 

Eshoo, the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on communications and technology, lamented the proposed $25 million cuts to the FCC’s budget in the House Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill, as well as the policy riders that would temporarily block enforcement of net neutrality rules. 

{mosads}”I want to talk about your budget,” she told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who testified Tuesday. “House appropriators have really screwed the FCC in my view, And I don’t think it is funny. I think it’s serious.”

“There are so many things that are reliant on dollars, and I’m not talking about adding a load of extra dough, I’m talking about the agency being able to carry out its responsibilities,” she added. 

The Appropriations Committee approved the budget last month, but floor action on spending bills is largely stalled in the House over a back-and-forth between the parties about the Confederate flag. Senate appropriations are also stalled due to Democratic concerns about funding levels. 

The House proposal contains funding levels of $315 million for the FCC in 2016, while the Senate version contains $5 million more. The FCC is requesting $388 million, as the agency plans to move its physical workspace. 

Noting President Obama is “not going to sign something like that,” Eshoo predicted Congress would eventually have to approve another omnibus bill to fund government agencies to avoid a shutdown. 

Eshoo asked Wheeler to have his staff draft a memo describing what the FCC would be able to do with the proposed budget cuts or if an omnibus is passed. 

Wheeler said his agency had lobbied everyone who would listen about the size of the FCC’s budget. In the end, he said, the agency will have to “live with the number Congress gives us.”

Funding for the agency comes from the Appropriations Committee rather than the Energy and Commerce Committee. But subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) had no problems with the proposed funding levels. 

“Clearly it’s an agency that, while the staffing has come down, needs management like any other agency on the funding,” he said after the hearing. “I don’t think their issue is a lack of funding, by the way.”

Wheeler noted that the FCC is currently at the lowest number of full-time employees in modern history. But Walden shot back that with all the advisers that Wheeler has brought on, “he’s probably exceeded the number of employees the chairman is allowed to have.”

The hours-long hearing, which featured Wheeler and Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai, touched on a number of issues, including the upcoming spectrum auction and concerns about a recently released FCC ruling on robocalls.