The San Francisco court has 24 judges, of which 18 were appointed by Democratic administrations. The Democrats support net neutrality.

The FCC board has a majority of Republicans. The vote to abolish net neutrality was a 3-2 decision.

The States’ challenge argues that the FCC cannot make “arbitrary and capricious” policy changes and that it didn’t properly appreciate “critical record evidence on industry practices and harm to consumers and businesses.”

It’s become a battle between the telecoms operators and the big Californian tech companies.

The US Supreme Court, where the case could end up, has five Republican-appointed judges and four Democrat-appointed judges. However the Ronald Reagan-appointed judge, Anthony Kennedy, has been known to diverge from the party line in his judgments.