U.S. House of Representatives Democrats informed FCC Chairman Kevin Martin that he will be a "frequent visitor" before the panel of the House Telecoms Subcommittee, following accusations that Martin overstepped his bounds when he and the other FCC commissioners change laws to make its ruling on local video franchising.
Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), chairman of the committee, said, "If reform of that regulatory structure is necessary, than it is Congress' prerogative to take such action as we have done before. It is not the role of the FCC. The Commission chose to ignore the well settled divisions of responsibilities, that is unwise." Dingell went on to suggest the committee should hold monthly meetings to make sure that the FCC is doing its job correctly.
For more on the hearing:
- see this article from the WSJ (sub. req.)