Likely FCC Nominee Rosenworcel Could Face Republican Delays
Replacing Commissioner Michael Copps may not be easy and may not happen until after he leaves the FCC at the end of the current Congress. The White House has vetted several candidates for the soon-to-be-open FCC seat held by Copps, industry and government officials confirm. Jessica Rosenworcel, aide to Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., appears to be the likely nominee (CD March 3 p5) and Rockefeller has asked the White House that she be nominated, officials said. The FBI may have already started the final critical background investigation on a single candidate, officials said.
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Meanwhile, staff in the White House Office of Personnel and National Economic Council have also been asking about a potential candidate to replace Julius Genachowski as chairman, if he leaves before the end of Obama’s first term as president. The White House also looked at Paul Margie, a former aide to both Copps and Rockefeller, and Blair Levin, former FCC chief of staff and architect of the National Broadband Plan, as it considered a Copps replacement, said government and industry officials.
It’s still unclear whether Senate Republicans would allow a nomination to go forward, even if paired with the renomination of Meredith Baker for a second, full term on the commission. If Republicans hold up filling the Copps’ seat, the FCC would be left with four members next year, two Republicans and two Democrats. One former FCC official said odds appear under 50 percent that Congress will approve a replacement for Copps this year.
Vetting, a process handled by the White House, is a less formal, less intensive investigation of a candidate for commissioner than the FBI background check, which generally takes about six weeks to complete. One FCC official said the White House usually makes a few calls and asks the candidate to come in for an interview. The FBI investigation involves stacks of paperwork that must be completed by the candidate. FBI agents typically conduct dozens of interviews asking about everything from whether a candidate has a record of sexually harassing colleagues to concerns about alcohol and drug abuse.
Rockefeller wants to make sure his imprint is on whoever replaces Copps, because he hasn’t played an influential role in picking an FCC member as Commerce chairman, lobbyists watching the process said. Genachowski, as is typical for chairmen, was a direct pick of the White House. Clyburn’s name, like several former FCC members, came from the House, where her father is the assistant Democratic whip. Most FCC members who aren’t chairman in the recent past have been picked by the Commerce head or ranking member of the candidate’s party, noted Professor Christopher Sterling of George Washington University. That “started as something of a White House courtesy, and slowly became tradition and accepted that it work this way,” said Sterling, a former FCC aide who teaches about the commission.