As Republicans in Congress push legislation that would gut the Federal Communications Commission's authority to enforce net neutrality rules, the White House today issued a policy statement threatening a veto.

"If the president were presented with H.R. 2666 [the bill number] his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill," the statement said.

The bill is titled the No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act and was approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee over objections from Democrats last month. The bill would strip the FCC of authority to set broadband rates or review whether a rate is reasonable, and it's controversial mainly because it defines "rate regulation" so broadly that it could prevent the FCC from enforcing net neutrality rules against blocking and throttling. It could also limit the FCC's authority to prevent ISPs from applying data caps in discriminatory ways.

The House Rules Committee voted yesterday to send the bill to the House floor this week for votes on Democratic amendments designed to preserve FCC authority, Politico reported.

Even if it passes the House and Senate, the rate regulation proposal isn't likely to become law because of the president's veto power. From telephone service to broadband access, US laws for nearly a century have prevented communications companies from exploiting gatekeeper power, the White House policy statement said. But this bill "would undermine key provisions" in the net neutrality order that prevent abuses, it said.

The bill would "restrict the FCC's ability to take enforcement actions to protect consumers on issues where the FCC has received numerous consumer complaints... hamstring the FCC's public interest authority to review transactions... [and] limit the Commission's ability to address new practices and adapt its rules for a dynamic, fast-changing online marketplace," the White House said.

Republicans argue that even the "potential" of rate regulation "discourages investment and unique pricing structures or service plans." Verizon, meanwhile, just decided to expand its FiOS fiber construction for the first time in several years, bolstering FCC Chairman Wheeler's contention that the passage of net neutrality rules last year hasn't harmed network investment.

Dozens of advocacy groups wrote to House leaders in both parties on Tuesday urging them to reject the bill.

Separately, Republican lawmakers held a hearing Wednesday on a bill that would cut the budget of an FCC program that helps poor people buy phone and Internet service.