Federal Communications Commission
The FCC regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. With only 1,512 employees overseeing a multi-trillion dollar telecommunications sector, the agency is structurally under-resourced. Since 2009, it has been funded 100% by regulatory fees collected from the industries it regulates.
The FCC's net neutrality saga illustrates its fundamental instability: the same rules have been adopted, struck down, repealed, re-adopted, and struck down again across administrations. With Chevron deference ended, the agency may no longer have authority to make major policy without explicit Congressional authorization.
The FCC issues headline-grabbing hundred-million-dollar fines but cannot collect them - must refer to DOJ, which often declines. More than 95% of $1.5 billion in penalties are 'uncollectible.' The agency admitted it doesn't systematically track whether fines are paid.
Key Facts
Power Dynamics
Independent agency with broad rulemaking authority
Chairman controls all bureaus even without quorum; 100% funded by regulated industries; every commissioner for 30 years went to telecom industry after leaving
- Congressional appropriations
- Industry lawsuits (95%+ of major rules challenged)
- Post-Chevron court review
- Complete revolving door with telecom industry
- Harvard study concluded 'captured agency'
- Former chairman called it 'firmly captured by corporations'
Revenue Structure
Federal Communications Commission Revenue Sources
- Regulatory fees from industry 100% →
100% funded by those regulated since 2009
Budget controlled by industries it regulates; spectrum auction authority expired March 2023 - no new auctions possible
Spectrum auctions generated $233.5 billion for Treasury - none goes to FCC
Decision Dynamics at Federal Communications Commission
Emergency orders can happen in days when politically motivated
Submarine cable licensing stretched from 9 months to 3+ years; net neutrality ping-ponged for 15+ years
Notice-and-comment process; industry litigation delays; administration changes reverse policies
Failure Modes of Federal Communications Commission
- Net neutrality adopted/struck down/repealed/re-adopted/struck down (5 reversals)
- Janet Jackson 'wardrobe malfunction' fine took 8 years of litigation
- Indecency enforcement paralyzed for decade
- 1,512 employees for trillion-dollar sector
- 95% of fines uncollectible
- Post-Chevron authority in question
- Complete regulatory capture via revolving door
If major telecom merger or spectrum crisis requires rapid action, FCC may lack legal authority or political independence to respond
Biological Parallel
Like an immune system that has been co-opted by pathogens. The 'antibodies' (commissioners, staff) consistently become 'pathogens' (industry lobbyists) after leaving. The system generates inflammatory signals (large fines) but cannot execute immune responses (collect them). Regulatory capture is so complete that a former chairman called it 'firmly captured by corporations.'
Key Agencies
Telephone and broadband regulation
Spectrum and mobile regulation
Broadcasting regulation