Senate Clears First Hurdle on Restoring Net Neutrality

Despite months of dire news, the fight over net neutrality isn’t over yet.

This afternoon, the Senate passed a vote to restore net neutrality, following the FCC’s much-derided decision to repeal the order in December.

Senate Democrats, along with three Republicans (Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), Sen. John Kennedy (Louisianna) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), scored a 52-47 vote, clearing the first step toward nullifying the FCC’s ruling to rollback Net Neutrality, using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows the Senate to reverse any decision made by government agencies. The CRA only requires 30 signatures to force a vote, which led to the one held today.

However, the victory may be fleeting for proponents of the open internet, as many worry that the House of Representatives, the next legislative body in line to vote on the proposal, is less inclined to vote against the FCC. While the measure may fail, some believe that Democrats have used the vote to keep the issue in the front of voters’ minds as the nation heads into a contentious midterm election.

As for the House, things look less optimistic. Unlike the Senate, where Democrats only needed the votes of three Republican colleagues to reach a 52-vote majority, in the house they’ll need as many as 22 Republicans, assuming every Democrat votes in favor of the reversal. Once through there, the vote heads to the desk of President Trump, who might not to be too keen on reversing the flagship decision of one his appointees, FCC Chairman and living forced meme Ajit Pai.

Still, even as things going forward seem less sunny, people are happy to good news anywhere they take it.

VICTORY! The Senate just voted to overturn the Trump administration's Net Neutrality repeal. Now the measure goes to the House of Representatives.

We need #NetNeutrality. We all deserve a free and open internet.https://t.co/kd3Rl0IRpA

— Randy Bryce (@IronStache) May 16, 2018

Breaking: the U.S. Senate just voted 52-47 vote on the bill to restore #NetNeutrality  and to protect a fair and open internet. Amazing victory for consumers, small businesses and rural communities. Final vote at 3. Watch on CSpan!

— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) May 16, 2018

The Senate just passed a bill to protect #NetNeutrality. Unless the House also passes this bill, net neutrality will end June 11.

Call your Representative. Demand they stand with consumers and keep the internet free and open. #SaveTheInternet

202-224-3121

— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiffCA) May 16, 2018

#NetNeutrality What a humiliating rebuke to the FCC. If the Senate doesn't want their repeal of net neutrality nor do the majority of Americans, just what are they doing here and for whom?

— Tim Wu (@superwuster) May 16, 2018

In December 2017, the FCC, led by efforts from chairman Ajit Pai, voted 3-2 to roll back Obama-era regulations reclassified the Internet as a Title II utility. Those regulations prohibited Internet Service Providers from favoring specific websites and apps. Congressional Democrats and some Republicans have argued that the rollback could lead to ISPs playing favorites with online content and throttling said content.

If it is not reversed, net neutrality will end on June 11th.