Starks Seen Likely to be Confirmed to FCC, Despite Being 'Unknown' to Many

Clyburn congratulated Starks Monday, saying he's "a sharp communications attorney committed to public service.” Commissioners Brendan Carr, Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel also issued statements Monday expanding on their earlier support for Starks. Leading telecom-focused senators didn’t comment Monday and there wasn’t the usual swift stampede of statements on his nomination from the private sector and public interest groups. The American Cable Association, CTIA, Incompas, NAB, NTCA, the Parents Television Council and USTelecom were among those commenting Monday. Starks was expected to be the nominee since Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., recommended him to the White House earlier this year (see 1803090040 and 1804060049).

Starks remains likely to be paired for Senate floor confirmation with Carr’s nomination to a full five-year term ending in 2023, though much depends on the Senate Commerce Committee’s confirmation timeline, two Capitol Hill aides said. Senate Commerce advanced Carr’s confirmation to a full term in January (see 1801180049). The Senate confirmed Carr last year to an abbreviated term ending this month under a deal aimed at providing a clear Republican nominee to pair with a potential Clyburn successor (see 1706290063 and 1708030060).

Starks’ experience at EB and as a trial lawyer at Williams & Connolly show he would “bring a strong concern for consumer protection and for the rights of lower-income people in the U.S.,” said Boies Schiller telecom and antitrust lawyer Travis LeBlanc, enforcement chief under former Chairman Tom Wheeler. LeBlanc said he also worked with Starks at Williams & Connolly. Starks came to the FCC to work on eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in Lifeline and other USF programs in a way that helped the vulnerable communities they were intended to serve, LeBlanc said: Starks “is committed to ensuring that every U.S. consumer has access to basic telecom services,” including broadband connectivity. Starks came to the commission from DOJ, where he was a senior counsel to the deputy attorney general's office. He was previously an aide to the Illinois Senate Local Government and Elections Committee and an analyst at Goldman Sachs.

NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield agreed Starks remains “a little bit of an unknown” months after there was wide industry consensus he would be the nominee. “I don’t think a lot of folks have personally interacted with” Starks since many in the communications sector “don’t want to be interfacing a lot with” EB, she told us. “His role is very different” from Rosenworcel’s pre-commissioner job as an aide to then-Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. “All trains at one point led through” Rosenworcel, which made it easier to peg her policy positions before confirmation, Bloomfield said.

Little Record

Industry lobbyists and others said Starks’ lack of a public record on net neutrality and other potentially thorny issues is a major reason Schumer chose him as the Democrats’ recommended candidate. Starks declined to comment.

“He’s a safe bet for confirmation,” something Schumer focused on while evaluating potential Clyburn successors last year (see 1706140065, 1707070022 and 1707260052), one telecom lobbyist said. Starks came to Schumer’s attention because of the nominee’s friendship with the senator’s then-Chief Counsel Rebecca Slaughter, two informed people said. Starks and Slaughter, now an FTC commissioner, were classmates at Yale Law School and graduated in 2008. Some cited Slaughter’s backing of Starks as a sign the nominee will vote the Democratic Party line on telecom issues if he’s confirmed. Slaughter's office didn't comment.

“I believe [Starks] will vote in the spirit” of Clyburn and Wheeler, said Wheeler ex-aide Gigi Sohn. Starks “brings a progressive viewpoint and I’m hoping he brings a lot of the same viewpoints” Clyburn has championed as a commissioner. “I hope he becomes a fighter” in Clyburn’s mold, Sohn said.

Starks “has big shoes to fill” given Clyburn’s record “and we hope that he takes on the same role as a champion for the public interest and those who are being underserved,” said Public Knowledge Vice President Chris Lewis. “I hope he will hold a strong view on the importance of competition to consumers and push for strong consumer protections. He certainly knows how the business world works, so he has a diverse set of experiences. We’re looking for him to apply those in a way that’s needed at the commission.” Wheeler, a Brookings Institution Center for Technology Innovation visiting fellow, agreed Starks has “huge boots to fill.”

Some Concerned

Some at groups that generally are pro-regulation are privately expressing some doubts about Starks’ ability to fight with the same passion as Clyburn on the issues she cared about.

"When you’re in enforcement, it’s hard to develop a record on any issue, period,” LeBlanc said. “If that were a basis for disqualification, then just about anyone in enforcement would not have an ability to serve in an appointed position. To me, that’s not a basis for disqualification, but I come from a position of someone” who has served in the bureau before. “I have little doubt that Starks would vote the same way” as Clyburn, LeBlanc said.

Senate Commerce Democrats are likely to pepper Starks with tough questions at his eventual confirmation hearing, several officials said. He “won’t get a free pass” on any issue, including net neutrality, privacy, broadband deployment and spectrum policy, a telecom lobbyist predicted. Andrew Schwartzman, senior counselor at Georgetown Law's Institute for Public Representation, agreed Starks will face tough questioning from members of Senate Commerce in both parties but said Democratic scrutiny wouldn’t be unusual. “That’s what the confirmation process is for,” he said, noting Democrats also expressed skepticism about Wheeler during his confirmation process.

Public interest advocates’ concerns about Starks mainly stem from his “quite properly not reaching out to them” while the White House was deciding whether to follow Schumer’s recommendation and nominate him, Schwartzman said. Starks “is extremely well-credentialed and obviously extremely smart, and I have a lot of confidence from talking to” people who know him that he's “likely to be a forceful advocate” in Clyburn’s image, said Schwartzman: “Once the community gets to know him” they will recognize that.