A suit to challenge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was filed on Tuesday by 21 U.S. state attorneys general. Meanwhile, Democrat officials said that only one more vote is needed in the Senate to repeal the FCC ruling.
According to Reuters, the state attorneys, including those of California, New York, and Virginia as well as the District of Columbia, filed a petition to challenge the action, saying that it violated federal laws and regulations.
The petition was filed with a federal appeals court in Washington. As Senate Democrats said on Tuesday, they had the backing of 50 members of the 100-person chamber for repeal, leaving them just one vote short of a majority.
But even if they win a majority vote in the Senate, Democrats will also need a majority in the House of Representatives, where the Republicans also hold the majority. And even then, President Donald Trump can veto the repeal.
All 49 Democrats in the upper chamber want the repeal to happen. They have the support of one Republican Senator, Susan Collins, who said that she would support the effort to overturn the FCC’s move.
The Democratic Party requires 51 votes to win in the Senate. With the 50 votes they now have, only Vice President Mike Pence can break the tie, which is not very likely since President Donald Trump backed the FCC decision. So if the president is to put a veto on the possible return of net neutrality, he would require a two-thirds vote of both chambers.
In December, the FCC managed to reverse the net neutrality rules that were introduced in 2015 by the Obama administration. The net neutrality forbids Internet Service Providers (ISP) from blocking or controlling which traffic goes through their lines, making people pay additionally if they want to visit certain websites or services on the internet.
The FCC said that the new rules will not apply for at least three months.
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