Ajit Pai and the Federal Communications Commission just made it official: the order to end net neutrality rules gets published in the Federal Register this Thursday.
Once they hit “print” on the rules, a 60-day clock starts on the window for congress to undo the order. Democrats, Independents, and Republican Susan Murkowski of Maine all back a move to preserve net neutrality in the Senate. That means the Senate is only one vote shy of the 51 needed to move a Congressional Review Act to preserve the rules to the House. Even if they get the one vote, it’s unlikely that it would get the support needed in the House, and even then Trump could veto.
That’s not the only line of defense, though. With the publication of the order, it’s fair game for attorneys general and advocacy groups to start filling lawsuits against it.
The order passed in December with a 3-2 vote along party lines. But it remains deeply unpopular with the public and technology companies. The only people who support the move are Republicans and telecom giants like AT&T and Comcast. Definitely not the most consumer-friendly indicator for a piece of legislation, that it’s only cool with big business and the GOP.