The Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund Order is stuck inside the agency, with the 5 commissioners debating edits that some say may change the meaning of the order rather than focusing solely on clarifying agreed-upon rules. TF’s Berin Szoka condemned the opaque process in Communications Daily (subscription service):
TechFreedom President Berin Szoka quoted House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.” “At the FCC, it’s more like: ‘We have to pass the order so we can decide what’s in it,’” Szoka said. Too many FCC chairmen have viewed other commissioners “as annoyances whose involvement should be minimized as much as possible rather than coequal partners in the rulemaking process,” he said. “This tendency becomes most visible when the partisanship at the agency increases.” Federal commissions “rely on collegiality to function effectively,” Szoka said.