If legal opinion is now that the FTC does not have the ability to regulate internet privacy, it is not the fault of congress, it is the fault of the 9th circuit's ruling ruling last year [1], which has effect over its area of jurisdiction.

Traditionally it is the FTC which regulates consumer privacy. The republican's position w.r.t. internet privacy is that regulating this is in the domain of the FTC, as has always been the case before [2][3][4].

Sources:

[1] https://iapp.org/news/a/the-att-v-ftc-common-carrier-ruling-...

[2] http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017...

[3] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/media-resources/protecting-c...

[4] http://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/commentary/the-ftc...