Sallet Leaving as FCC General Counsel for DOJ, Succeeded by Symons
FCC General Counsel Jon Sallet, widely seen as a key deputy to Chairman Tom Wheeler, is leaving the agency for DOJ, to be replaced by Howard Symons, Incentive Auction Task Force vice chairman. Sallet had a hand in most major policy calls under Wheeler, starting with last year’s net neutrality rules, recently upheld the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, industry observers said. A former FCC legal adviser said Sallet was “instrumental in every key decision the chairman made.”
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Sallet is going to a bigger playing field, becoming deputy assistant attorney general for litigation in DOJ's Antitrust Division. He replaces Dave Gelfand, who recently returned to private practice.
Sallet was “an incredible contributor to the activities of the Commission over the last two and a half years” Wheeler said in a Tuesday news release. “Now that the Incentive Auction rules are in place and the auction is underway, we have the flexibility to ask Howard to transfer his considerable talents to become General Counsel.” The FCC said attorneys in Sallet’s new office represent the commission before the courts, “recommend decisions in adjudicatory matters, assist the Commission in its decision-making capacity and perform a variety of legal functions regarding internal and other administrative matters.”
The departure is a “pretty big deal,” longtime FCC watcher Andrew Schwartzman said in an interview. “Jon’s is one of the most important legal jobs in the government,” he said. “It’s a recognition of his skill and talents and everything. Even at the tail end of an administration, it’s a very important job.” Symons is a very qualified, experienced lawyer who has done a good job on the incentive auction, added Schwartzman, a senior counselor at the Georgetown Law Institute for Public Representation.
Harold Feld, senior vice president at Public Knowledge, sees Symons as a very capable successor to Sallet. “Symons has worked closely with Wheeler on the incentive auction, and has a good relationship with Wheeler as an adviser on complex issues,” he said. But Feld said one of Sallet’s strengths has been his ability to make sure FCC orders “speak across multiple bureaus” with a uniform voice. “Whatever Sallet did with the FCC's internal processes, the finished products have been tighter, more focused and more internally and externally consistent than they have been previously,” Feld said. “This has, in my opinion, contributed to the FCC's overall enhanced success on judicial review.”
It "positions" Sallet "well for the future,” said Roger Entner, analyst at Recon Analytics. “I look at it as the inevitable jockeying before a general election and a new administration.” Entner said he has some concerns about the inevitable hole in the incentive auction team. “There are still a lot of moving parts in the incentive auction,” he said.
“Auction in good hands with Gary Epstein -- at the helm from day 1,” tweeted former Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition Executive Director Preston Padden, who advises reverse auction bidders. Epstein chairs the task force.
Sallet played a “crucial role in shaping and then defending” the net neutrality order, emailed Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood. "He also seemed to be instrumental in the FCC’s consideration of the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger and the agency’s welcome decision to block that disastrous deal. We didn’t always agree with his analyses, even during the course of those two victories, let alone when the FCC allowed other big mergers to go through instead of blocking them. But it goes without saying that he’s a tremendous intellect, lawyer and leader.”
Symons’ “breadth and depth on the myriad issues facing the commission are second to none,” said former Commissioner Robert McDowell, now at Wiley Rein. Symons “can be tough but is always fair, even when he disagrees” and has a good sense of humor, McDowell said.
The Sallet departure won’t necessarily affect what happens during the rest of Wheeler’s chairmanship, said Free State Foundation President Randolph May, former FCC associate general counsel. “I think Wheeler knows what he wants to try to get done at this point and will try to do it,” May said. “In theory, Congress could put some restraints on Wheeler’s agenda through appropriations riders, or, in the case of the set-top box proposal through bipartisan pressure, but who sits in the general counsel’s chair is not going to affect that."
One potential concern about Symons is his long history as a lead attorney for the cable industry, which could mean he will have to recuse himself on a number of key issues now before the agency, several public interest group officials said. Feld said he doesn't share those concerns.
Adonis Hoffman, former aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, said Sallet “always took the extra time and effort to delineate complex legal issues to the legal advisors, which I'm sure must have been exacting since he was usually two to three steps ahead of most of us.” Hoffman, now chairman of Business in the Public Interest, said Sallet’s legacy at the FCC was “burnished” by the decision upholding the net neutrality rules (see 1606140023).