People had a day in public comment on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in this matter last year by the FCC. Until commissioners vote on something else in the matter, there is no official FCC action for people to comment on, just internal discussion drafts. An NPRM followed by a Final Rule with nothing published in between is fairly normal regulatory process.

And a final rule usually doesn't go into effect immediately, and isn't -- even when it does -- an end to the public's opportunity to influence policy, both at the FCC and through Congress which can overrule the FCC; the concession in the article is Republicans conceding their effort to get bipartisan support to block the FCC action before it is announced. They'll no doubt try again once it is announced and they have a concrete thing to oppose.