CEI Applauds Court Ruling in Tennessee v. FCC

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit invalidated the Federal Communication Commission's 2015 rules, which attempted to restrict the ability of states to oversee their municipalities' broadband Internet access offerings.

“As Tennessee and North Carolina rightly argued, Congress never empowered the FCC to dictate how states regulate the telecomm offerings of local governments,” said Ryan Radia of the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “Agencies should not preempt state powers unless Congress has made its intention to let them do so extremely clear—and Congress expressed no such intention when it came to the FCC’s powers over the Internet.”

An amicus brief filed by CEI and several other groups supported the successful petitioners in this case.