Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) set an early tone for this week’s hearing with the five FCC Commissioners by saying that the “clear intent” of the Commission during Chairman Wheeler’s tenure was to establish the FCC “as the most important player in the communications marketplace, the arbiter through which all innovation must pass.”
Thune also addressed the partisanship of the Commission under its current leader: “Partisan toxicity of the Commission has reached across Washington and infected our work.” He urged the Commissioners to “treat each other fairly, follow, the law, seek congressional guidance, and seek consensus wherever possible.”
Finally, in a thinly veiled shot across the bow, Thune said that “Today’s hearing should be viewed as establishing a regular biennial process for FCC oversight.”