FCC Advisory Committees Could Be Subject to Expanded Lobbyist Ban
Some high-profile members of the FCC’s most significant advisory panels could be barred from further service under an Obama administration policy reportedly under consideration at the White House. The proposal was first reported in Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. Craig Holman, Capitol Hill lobbyist for Public Citizen, said in an interview Tuesday the administration appears to be sending up a “trial balloon” as it looks at further tightening lobbyist restrictions. Holman said the restrictions would likely be consistent with the ethics order President Barack Obama released his first day in office.
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The restrictions would probably apply to committees chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Holman said. That would include such high-profile committees as the FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age, the Consumer Advisory Committee and the North American Numbering Council. “While the original order dealt with transition teams and appointments to governmental positions, it looks as though the administration is now considering extending that to advisory committees as well. I would applaud the White House for doing that,” Holman said.
Applying such restrictions to independent regulatory commissions raises questions of executive branch interference, said Andrew Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project. “That aside, as a measure designed to promote public confidence in the activities of government, it’s a potentially useful development,” said Schwartzman, a member of the diversity committee who’s not a registered lobbyist. “As with the ban on lobbyists in the administration, I think it needs to be implemented, with rules for exceptions where appropriate. There are certainly times when particular expertise for an advisory committee might well justify making an exception to the rules.”
But a member of one advisory committee and former FCC official noted that advisory committees at the FCC have no decision-making power. “The advisory committee members tend to interact with each other,” the source said. “The recommendations go up to the commission to do what the commission wants to do. In some cases, it’s nothing. In some cases they issue an NPRM. It’s not like the advisory committee is whispering in the chairman’s ear.”
A wireless industry attorney pointed out that even those who focus on regulatory issues can easily trip requirements that they register as a lobbyist. “Often, people who advocate at the FCC are asked to communicate with staffers on Capitol Hill on legislative issues relating to pending FCC proceedings or other technical matters where their expertise is needed,” the lawyer said. “It is fairly easy to be captured by the registration requirements.”
“I would say that the goal of broadening representations on federal advisory committees is a good one,” said Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld. “But the way to do that is not to ban lobbyists. Instead, the focus should be on expanding the points of view represented. In this regard, lobbyist v. non-lobbyist is not nearly as useful as trying to get a mix of industry, academics, and non-commercial representatives.” Feld said banning lobbyists could hurt public interest groups, which unlike companies don’t always have replacements available if their representatives happens to be a registered lobbyists.
A ban on lobbyists would create immediate holes in the Consumer Advisory Committee. Marti Doneghy, representing AARP, Consumer Union’s Joel Kelsey, the American Council of the Blind’s Eric Bridges and former FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani all are listed as registered lobbyists by CQ Moneyline. Debra Berlyn, chair of the panel, was a registered lobbyist on behalf of AARP during the DTV transition, but was deactivated as a lobbyist in June, she said Tuesday. Among members of the diversity committee listed in the database of registered lobbyists are NAB’s Jane Mago, NCTA’s James Assey, Toni Cook Bush, representing Virgin Mobile, and Google’s Alan Davidson.