AM Revitalization Fight Highlights FCC Partisan Battles
The back and forth between Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Ajit Pai over the AM revitalization order is the latest flare-up (see 1510260062) in what is seen by some as a more partisan and divided FCC than past administrations, communications attorneys and former agency officials said in interviews this week. Wheeler and Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Mike O'Rielly referenced (here, here and here) the disagreements and very public battle over the order in statements released with it. Lawyers said an antagonistic atmosphere at the commission is being exacerbated by partisan fighting in Washington.
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While the FCC has always included “discord,” the external political climate may be making it worse, said Georgetown Law Institute for Public Representation Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman. That partisan atmosphere makes compromises, congeniality and unanimous votes less likely and hurts morale at the commission, said attorneys, former officials and FCC watchers.
Before the AM order ended up getting unanimous approval, several FCC officials on both sides of the matter said, there was initially a lack of willingness to compromise on the issue of an AM-only FM translator application window. Pai initially supported the window, and Wheeler initially opposed it. An informed former FCC official said Pai’s office never met with Wheeler’s office on resolving differences over the draft order before going public with complaints about it. The Pai office was told over the phone that the chairman wouldn't support any kind of translator window, which led them to take the fight public, a spokesman for Pai’s office said. Clyburn brokered the compromise that eventually led to the order’s approval, the former FCC official told us.
Broadcast attorneys said Wheeler’s released statement on the order could be seen as a slight against Pai since it praises Clyburn without ever mentioning the Republican commissioner’s advocacy for the order. The former FCC official said Wheeler was just seeking to highlight Clyburn’s role as the sitting chairwoman when the rulemaking was initiated. The commission declined to comment for this story.
The public battles between Wheeler and the minority commissioners are similar to battles the FCC has seen before, said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Frank Montero. During Chairman Michael Powell’s administration, then-minority Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps were known for effectively attacking Powell’s attempted changes to media ownership rules, Montero said. “That was a brutal minority.” Being compared to Copps as a minority commissioner is a compliment, said a Pai spokesman.
There were serious differences among the commissioners back then, but things at the current FCC seem worse, said Copps, now a special adviser to Common Cause. “We really made an effort to keep it as nonpersonal as possible. It’s important for the commission to have an atmosphere of congeniality.” The current FCC’s lack of congeniality and increasing partisanship is especially obvious when commissioners are called to Capitol Hill, he said. A change to the rules that prevent commissioners from meeting privately would improve relations at the current FCC and would have done so in his time, Copps said.
Industry officials blame the breakdown in relations on Wheeler’s willingness to accept a 3-to-2 vote to approve rules. Since Wheeler doesn't need to extend olive branches to Republicans to make policy, the only weapon left to the minority is to attack, they said. Former Chairman Julius Genachowski more actively sought compromise, the Pai spokesman told us. Copps said that dissenting votes are part of the commission process and that the FCC eventually has to take action. “Three-two votes have always happened, that’s how you lead," Copps said. That kind of policymaking leads to one-sided rules, the Pai spokesman said, pointing to Genachowski as a more centrist administration.
The commission has compromised on many recent items without the kind of bickering that marked the revitalization effort, several FCC officials said. On recent matters such as foreign ownership or the broadcast contest rules, edits from the Republican offices were accepted, the former FCC official said. The Pai spokesman also said the Republicans feel locked out of the process on only some issues.
Meanwhile, according to the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, employee satisfaction at the FCC also appears to be waning. The publication Government Executive recently reported that the FCC ranked in the top five federal agencies for a general decline in morale over the past five years. Morale at the FCC dropped 15 percent over the past five years, the survey found, though at 66 percent it remains just above the government average.
The quality of work produced under Wheeler is lower than that produced under Genachowski or Powell, but slightly better than during Kevin Martin’s tenure, said Richard Bennett, network architect and founder of the High Tech Forum. Quality probably reflects both morale and management competence, he said.
Wheeler isn't to blame if FCC staff is unhappy, said Harold Feld, senior vice president at Public Knowledge. “It cannot be pleasant to have Congress continually threatening your budget as a punishment for doing your job,” Feld said. “I suspect this is reflected in federal employee morale numbers generally. For the past five years, the Republicans in Congress have made no secret of their disdain for the federal government and federal employees.”