Net Neutrality is extraordinarily, improbably popular with Americans: 87% of Americans have both heard of Net Neutrality and believe it should be protected; virtually the only opponents Net Neutrality has are telcoms lobbyists and politicians who've had money funneled their way through telcoms PACs and direct contributions.
Luckily for Congress, Net Neutrality was killed by the FCC, and that meant that Congresscritters didn't have to go on record with a position on Net Neutrality during an election year.
Until now.
The Congressional Review Act lets Congress and the Senate overrule administrative agencies like the FCC, but it takes a simple majority in each house to call the vote. Pro Neutrality Senators think they've got that majority: 48 Democratic Senators, plus Angus King (I-ME) Susan Collins (R-ME) make it 50, and with John McCain hospitalized with cancer, only one more Republican needs to flip, and three of them seem ready to do so (Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), John Kennedy (R-LA), Rob Portman (R-OH).
It's unlikely that Congress and the Senate will actually vote to repeal Ajit Pai's Net Neutrality-killing order, but just getting every politician to put their name next to a vote one way or the other will make it easier to turn Net Neutrality into an election issue in October.
The Senate has forced a vote to restore net neutrality [Russell Brandom/The Verge]
(Image: Free Press, CC-BY-SA)
