As we reported a couple weeks back, U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) submitted a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai–signed by several other Republican Senators– urging a rollback of the Commission’s broad reading of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) following ACA Int’l.
Senator Thune is not just any old senator however. He is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and, in that capacity, he has convened a hearing titled “Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)” and asked (ordered?) the Commissioners to have a word about, inter alia, the TCPA. In other words, it seems the FCC’s Commissioners just got called to the principle’s office.
The hearing is to take place on August 16, 2018 and will allow the “Senators the opportunity to ask commissioners questions about topics of critical importance to their states and constituents” including–not surprisingly– the FCC’s efforts to “combat[] robocalls.” Notably, all four of the sitting Commissioners are scheduled to attend. Video of the hearing will be available here, and you better believe we’ll be watching.
It’ll be interesting to see what questions the Committee members have for the Chairman and the remaining Commissioners. We’ll be paying especially close attention for any comment regarding the possible timing for a ruling on the Public Notice. Expect a swift report from TCPAland.com after the hearing. More to come…
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