Genachowski Appointment Would Mean Close Ties Between FCC, White House

The pending nomination (CD Jan 12 Special Bulletin) shows that communications policy will play an increased role in the new administration, officials said Tuesday. Dozens of issues in media, wireline and wireless will await the new chairman -- though some probably will be taken up before he arrives, since getting a confirmation vote in the Senate could take several weeks. Many proposed orders that started circulating before a freeze matters other than the DTV transition await commission action.

Genachowski is best known in Washington for the years he spent at the FCC as an adviser to Chairman Reed Hundt, during a time the commission became more active and better known. He has mostly been gone from Washington for 12 years but still attends FCBA Chairman dinners and other events. An official said, “He hasn’t been hanging out in communications attorney world.”

“He is a close friend from law school of the president- elect,” said an attorney who knew Genachowski at the commission. “That reminds me of the relationship Reed Hundt had to Al Gore that was helpful in trying to elevate communications policy within the administration. We haven’t seen that in a long time. [Communications] is one-sixth of the economy… He was involved at the FCC when it had a very ambitious agenda… Reed Hundt really did change the way the agency operated. Before he took over it really was a sleepy agency.”

An attorney who crossed paths with Genachowski at the FCC said Hundt tried to hire from among “the best and the brightest” and he was one of the chairman’s star hires. “He was like a lion cub -- a very bright person, but young. The official said, “He had a lot of energy, a lot of potential. The Julius from that period may not be the Julius from now.”

“I expect Julius to be immensely practical and not an ideologue of a particular variety,” said an industry attorney who worked with him at the FCC. “I'm sure he will have policy direction he is interested in. I'm not certain I know what all of them are.” The Obama platform puts much emphasis on broadband deployment, so that will be a priority, the official said.

Genachowski was a law clerk to Chief Judge Abner Mikva of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after graduating from Harvard Law School. Mikva, who is from Illinois, also tried to recruit Obama as a clerk. Working for the judge was a common stepping stone to a Supreme Court clerkship and Genachowski made that jump, clerking first for William Brennan, the court’s preeminent liberal, then his replacement David Souter.

Genachowski went on to work at the House committee investigating the Iran-Contra affair and then for Rep. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and former CBS News President Fred Friendly. He joined the FCC in 1994 to work for General Counsel William Kennard. Hundt hired him in March 1995 as his counsel and made him chief counsel in December 1996. The jobs now are called legal adviser and senior legal adviser. He left the FCC about the time Hundt resigned in May 1997. At the commission, Genachowski was best known for his work on media issues, especially the three-hour children’s educational TV rule. But he also worked on wireless and international issues.

After leaving the FCC, Genachowski worked for Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp 1997 to 2005 before leaving to co-found the venture capital outfit Rock Creek Ventures. There he has advised and invested in companies such as Truveo, an online video search site sold to AOL, Beliefnet, a spiritual Web site acquired by News Corp., and Hillcrest Labs, known for developing a pointer-based interactive TV remote control. He was a key figure in the Obama campaign, bundling hundreds of thousands of dollars in contribution and bringing former FCC officials into the campaign.

“Genachowski’s strengths are that he is close to the president-elect,” said Richard Wiley, former FCC chairman. “He was in the working group working on broadband policy development.” Since Genachowski has worked at the FCC, he “knows how that agency operates,” Wiley added. Genachowski was the main force behind Obama’s use of technology in his campaign for President, said former FCC attorney Jonathan Askin. He expects the new chairman to revamp the FCC Web site and the commission’s internal collaborative tools, he said.

Genachowski “is a very talented person,” Chairman Kevin Martin said in an interview scheduled to run this weekend on C-SPAN’s The Communicators. “If that’s who it is, I'm sure he'll do a fantastic job.” Genachowski has “the makings of an effective chairman” because he “knows how the FCC and Washington work, he’s been successful in the tech sector, and he’s obviously well tied-in with the administration,” said Stanford Group analyst Paul Gallant, who worked for former Chairman Michael Powell.

Stifel Nicolaus said in a research report the Senate will face pressure to act on the nomination quickly if Congress pushes off the DTV transition deadline. “While it remains to be seen how that agenda will play out in specific policies and industry impact, we believe the regulatory initiative is likely to shift some from incumbents -- and the Bells in particular -- to new entrants and other non- traditional telecom and media players, including Internet application/content providers.”

Many groups put out statements on the expected nomination, almost all of them supportive. “The selection of Julius Genachowski is a great boost for the nation’s drive to be the world leader in all things broadband,” said Tom Tauke, Verizon’s executive vice president of public affairs. Consumers Union said, “We're encouraged by this choice for FCC chairman, someone who understands the communications and media industries well, and someone who gets how important an open Internet is to economic growth.”

FCC officials hope Genachowski will seek the suggestions of the other commissioners before circulating items and give bureau officials more leeway, said a commission official. Genachowski probably will take a close look at FCC processes, said commission and industry officials. “The new commission is going to think hard about the structure of the FCC and bringing the commission’s framework into the new age” of increased telecom competition, predicted To-Quyen Truong, a cable and telecom lawyer. “Trying to resolve issues more promptly and in a more open manner” also will be on the next FCC’s agenda, she said.