Carr Aide Swarztrauber to Replace Leamer in Chairman's Office
Evan Swarztrauber, an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, is expected to be tapped this week to replace Nathan Leamer as a policy adviser to Chairman Ajit Pai. Leamer was widely viewed as providing Pai with ties to key interest groups, especially those on the right. Other Pai aides have more of a legal or policy rather than communications background.
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Learner and Swarztrauber have similar backgrounds and, unusual for commissioner aides, aren’t lawyers. Swarztrauber was formerly director-public affairs at TechFreedom. Leamer came from the R Street Institute. Swarztrauber and the FCC didn't comment.
Leamer’s connections were important for the Pai office, said Benton Institute for Broadband and Society Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman. “Having established ties, Pai and his staff will know who they are and how to reach them,” Schwartzman said: “There certainly are others in Pai's orbit who can follow through.”
“Nathan came from R Street, so he certainly knew folks on the right, but he was a very bipartisan guy and worked well with folks on the left,” said Kristian Stout, International Center for Law & Economics associate director: “I would look for a replacement who fits a similar profile.”
Major agency actions such as the order revising net neutrality rules and media law reform “require broad support and Nathan knew better than most which FCC issues matter to those in the free-market and conservative movements,” said Brent Skorup of the Mercatus Center. “Nathan was a champion of Chairman Pai's priorities, especially during those public battles over internet regulation and broadband deployment.”
“Nathan did a good job, but there are plenty of energetic young people in the free-market world that can replace him without missing a beat,” said Richard Bennett, free-market blogger and network architect.
Tom Struble, R Street technology policy manager, said he started at the group after Leamer left. “All too many telecom professionals struggle to relate the work they do to a wider audience, most of whom know and care very little about telecom policy” and Leamer helped the Pai office translate the importance of the work it’s doing. Struble said. “I think that particular skill, explaining complex policy issues to a general audience in a way they can understand and relate to, is hugely valuable,” he said.
Officials from left-of-center groups, opposed to Pai policies on net neutrality and in other areas, declined to comment.