Senate Confirms Carr, Rosenworcel to FCC; Pai Vote Held Over in Deal
The Senate approved the nominations of Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel as FCC commissioners, as part of a deal among Senate leaders on a package of President Donald Trump's nominees. The Thursday deal that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reached covered only Carr's first abbreviated term set to end next year, with the Senate holding over votes on Carr's nomination to a second full term through 2023 and on FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's renomination. The deal also included passage under unanimous consent of several long-stalled telecom bills, including the Mobile Now Act (S-19) spectrum bill.
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The package of telecom bills in the Senate deal also included the Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things Act (S-88), Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act (S-96), Kari’s Law Act (S-123), Spoofing Prevention Act (S-134) and FCC Consolidated Reporting Act (S-174). Other Trump nominees the Senate confirmed Thursday included Vishal Amin as White House intellectual property enforcement coordinator, Peter Davidson as Department of Commerce general counsel and Robert Sumwalt as National Transportation Safety Board chairman.
Lawmakers viewed an agreement on Carr and Rosenworcel as fairly certain Thursday in the hours before Senate floor action, but the fate of Pai's reconfirmation and passage of S-19 and the other bills remained in considerable flux. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters he believed a FCC confirmations deal was “part of the package but I haven't heard the final contours of it.” Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., was more emphatic that a deal on Carr and Rosenworcel was set but not all details were final. He warned us about Pai's shaky status in the deal, saying “there seems to be a problem there.”
Schumer is believed to have adamantly opposed confirming Pai under unanimous consent, meaning McConnell will have to allow debate on the FCC chairman's reconfirmation ahead of a floor vote after the August recess, several lobbyists told us. Senate Democrats are seeking a floor vote on Pai to register their disapproval of some of his actions since taking over as FCC chairman in January, a Senate Democratic aide and two lobbyists separately told us. A floor vote would likely come amid FCC decisionmaking about how to proceed on its May NPRM on a possible rollback of the commission's 2015 net neutrality rules and reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service.
Schumer's insistence on a floor time for Pai reflects Senate Commerce's divided Wednesday vote on the FCC chairman, a Democratic telecom lobbyist said. Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and several other Senate Commerce Democrats asked to be recorded as no votes on Pai even though the committee advanced him on a voice vote (see 1708020052). “Given the way nominations work now, there's not a lot [the minority party] can do but where senators have strong feelings they can force nominees to go through the full process,” the Democratic lobbyist said.
Democrats are "looking for additional opportunities to have their views [on Pai] heard,” though their underlying concerns about assuring a clear path forward for a possible future Democratic FCC nominee also may have come into play, a communications sector lobbyist said. Senate Democrats had pushed for the Senate to confirm only Carr's first term in a bid to make him available as a Republican nominee to pair with a future FCC Democrat in case sitting Commissioner Mignon Clyburn decides to step down (see 1708010071). Pai was also originally seen as a potential nominee to pair with a possible Clyburn successor (see 1706290063).
The confirmations of Carr and Rosenworcel, once they are sworn in, will return the FCC to its full five-member complement and increase the pressure on Clyburn to solidify her plans, several lobbyists said. Clyburn can now “take time over the recess to consider what her next steps will be,” a Democratic telecom lobbyist said: “If she indicates she wants to leave, maybe the Senate can start the process” of considering her successor in time to pair that person with Pai, who can serve in the FCC only until the end of the year without reconfirmation.
Clyburn congratulated Carr and Rosenworcel on their FCC confirmations but didn't comment on her plans. Pai and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly also lauded the Senate's action. The confirmations also drew praise from a wide swath of communications sector stakeholders, including America's Public Television Stations, AT&T, the Competitive Carriers Association, CTA, NAB and NTCA.