After the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repealed most of the agency’s net neutrality regulations late last year, advocates for heavy-handed internet regulation shifted their focus to state governments. According to the National Regulatory Research Institute, these advocates have convinced a majority of states to propose, and in some cases pass, legislation or an executive order that would enforce some or all of the defunct federal rules at the state level.

These efforts will be short-lived. State laws that defy the FCC’s net neutrality repeal will not survive challenge in federal court. Preemption is a slam dunk.

The Constitution’s Supremacy Clause gives Congress the power to preempt state law, and a federal agency acting within the scope of its congressionally delegated authority has the power to preempt state regulation. In its net neutrality repeal order, the FCC was acting within the scope of its delegated authority under the Communications Act when it expressly preempted any state or local requirements that are inconsistent with the deregulatory federal approach.