Biden FCC Has 'Seemingly Endless List' of Issues: Wheeler

The Biden-era FCC has a "seemingly endless list" of issues to be addressed, blogged former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Thursday. The USF contribution factor has spiraled to "an unacceptable rate that now threatens the entire program," Wheeler said, and the FCC under then-President Donald Trump "failed to take any action." Wheeler criticized former Chairman Ajit Pai for waiting until his final days in office to suggest a solution and not acting sooner. A "logical solution," Wheeler said, "would have been to seek congressional help" or expand the contribution base to include broadband. The Trump-era FCC punted on further defining broadband service, he said. The FCC should consider reinstating net neutrality rules if it also wants to reinstate privacy protections for network users, he said, because "returning ISPs to common carrier status ... triggers their responsibility to protect the privacy of their subscribers." It should reconcile with calls to repeal Communications Decency Act Section 230 and the Trump FCC having spent the past few years "assiduously cutting the agency's authority" and "swiftly expanding that authority into previously untouched areas that probably infringe" on First Amendment protections, Wheeler said. The Supreme Court's Chevron doctrine will likely play a role in how the FCC practices administrative law amid speculation that justices appointed by Trump "may seek to overturn the Chevron precedent," Wheeler noted. The Biden FCC should decide whether to work closely with DOJ, as it did during the Obama administration, in reviewing transactions, Wheeler said, because "that cooperation became more of an exception than the rule" under Trump. It will also have to "catch up" on addressing the needs of deaf and hard of hearing individuals. To achieve anything, Biden must nominate a new commissioner and decide whether to reappoint acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, whose term expired in June 2020, Wheeler said. Pai declined to comment. The FCC didn't respond.