Sixth Circuit to Rehear En Banc Challenge to FCC Data Breach Rules
A full panel of 13 judges will review whether the FCC illegally bypassed a congressional nullification of telecom data rules.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has voted to rehear a case concerning the Federal Communications Commission's expanded data breach reporting rules for telecommunications companies. This move vacates a 2025 decision that had previously upheld the agency's authority to enforce the regulations.
According to a notice from the Court Clerk, a majority of active judges voted for a rehearing en banc, replacing the standard three-judge panel with a full panel of 13 judges. The legal challenge targets Biden-administration rules that expanded the categories of customer data telecoms are required to protect and the specific types of breaches they must report. Oral arguments for the case are scheduled for October 21, 2026.
The CRA Conflict
The dispute centers on the Congressional Review Act (CRA) of 1996, which allows Congress to nullify agency rules and prohibits those rules from being reissued in a substantially similar form. Industry groups and GOP lawmakers argue that the FCC's current rules are too similar to a provision that Congress nullified via the CRA in 2017.
In 2025, a three-judge panel ruled that the FCC could legally reintroduce a smaller portion of a previously nullified package. The challengers are now seeking to have that precedent removed, arguing that the agency effectively bypassed the legislative intent of the 2017 nullification.
Industry Implications
The outcome of this rehearing will determine the extent to which federal agencies can re-adopt regulations that were previously struck down by Congress. If the court finds that the FCC overstepped its authority, the ruling would significantly reinforce the power of the Congressional Review Act. Such a decision would limit the ability of federal agencies to "piece-meal" the return of rejected regulations by slightly altering them to avoid CRA restrictions.
What's Next
Legal observers will watch the October 2026 arguments to see if the full panel reverses the 2025 ruling. The case represents a critical test of the boundary between agency rulemaking and congressional oversight, specifically regarding how closely a new rule can mirror one previously rejected by lawmakers.