FCC Returns To Full Strength As Senate Confirms Republican & Democrat

UPDATE with MPAA statement: The FCC has a full contingent of five commissioners again after the U.S. Senate, in a voice vote today, confirmed Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel and Republican Brendan Carr.

Both already knows their way around the agency.

Rosenworcel was a commissioner from 2012 to the beginning of this year. Her term expired in mid-2015, but the Senate Commerce Committee allowed her to stay until the end of 2016 while it declined to deal with President Barack Obama’s renomination of her.

President Donald Trump withdrew the nomination in March. That left the FCC with three members — two Republicans and one Democrat.

Democrats led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recommended Rosenworcel for the party’s opening.

Ordinarily in cases like this the president jointly nominates a Republican and a Democrat to limit partisan bickering during the Senate confirmation process.

Carr has been FCC chairman Ajit Pai’s legal counsel since 2012, before he became chairman, and this year became the FCC’s acting general counsel. Before that, Carr worked at Wiley Rein where his clients included AT&T and Verizon, and lobby groups USTelecom and CTIA.

The new commissioners’ “experience at the FCC makes them particularly well-suited to hit the ground running,” Pai says. “I’m pleased that the FCC will once again be at full strength and look forward to collaborating to close the digital divide, promote innovation, protect consumers, and improve the agency’s operations.”

Cable’s NCTA – The Internet & Television Association – calls Rosenworcel and Carr “outstanding public servants who will serve our nation well.”

The MPAA said it “looks forward to working with Commissioners Carr and Rosenworcel.”