Gomez Nomination at FCC May Create Questions for WRC
The State Department appears to be considering what it will do if Anna Gomez, tapped to lead the U.S. delegation to the World Radicommunication Conference (see 2301270060), is nominated to the FCC, said industry officials closely following the WRC. The conference starts Nov. 20 in Dubai and is considered especially important because of the focus on identifying internationally harmonized spectrum for 6G.
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The Biden administration’s timeline for announcing its nominee for the FCC vacancy has again stretched past earlier expectations that an announcement would happen by mid-May. Nothing is guaranteed, but Gomez has emerged as the front-runner for the open Democratic FCC seat (see 2305020001). No commission nominations were included among the picks the White House announced Friday.
Congressional officials and communications policy stakeholders we spoke with said an announcement may not happen until the end of May. They still view Gomez as the overwhelming favorite to be the eventual nominee but noted the White House hadn’t fully completed the vetting process. The Biden administration also appears to be weighing the potential implications for the U.S. WRC delegation if President Joe Biden nominates Gomez, lobbyists said. The White House and State Department didn’t comment.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us Thursday she hadn’t heard anything further from the Biden administration on its FCC nominations timeline but said “ask me next week” because she’s set to “talk to them” soon about where things stand.
Two names have emerged as possible replacements for Gomez -- Umair Javed, longtime adviser to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, and Steve Lang, deputy assistant secretary-international information and communications policy at the State Department.
Gomez could stay at State and work on conference preparation, but the White House usually asks FCC nominees to keep a low profile and not talk to the press, which would be difficult for a WRC ambassador, officials said. The ambassador generally keeps a busy schedule before a WRC, with many trips overseas to regional meetings and for bilateral discussions with other countries, which could make it difficult for Gomez to also prepare for a Senate hearing and do the Capitol Hill meetings expected of a nominee, officials said.
“The last few months before an ITU major conference, such as WRC-23, require substantial pre-conference bilateral and regional coordination,” said Robert Frieden, Penn State emeritus professor of telecommunications and law. “There simply are no shortcuts and even allies expect a visit by the U.S. delegation head to bolster a unified position,” he said.
Over the years, presidential administrations have shown varying degrees of appreciation for how important ITU conferences are, Frieden noted. He expects a potentially contentious conference. China “may have pulled punches out of deference” to Houlin Zhao, former ITU secretary-general, “but may not be so reticent, particularly in light of the FCC's treatment of Huawei and ZTE,” he said: “The Russian delegation always has the potential to cause trouble.”
Anthony Rutkowski, a former counselor to two ITU secretaries-general, warned against placing too much emphasis on who heads the U.S. delegation. WRC “outcomes are determined by many factors,” Rutkowski emailed. The ITU secretary-general “frequently played the most significant role in shaping the outcome” and new Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, from the U.S., “seems particularly effective across a broad array of member nations,” he said.
Other industry officials said Gomez likely could play a role before the WRC while she prepares for confirmation to the FCC.
"If Anna is the nominee, I am 100% confident that she could prepare for the WRC and the Senate confirmation process concurrently, if she chooses to do so,” said Cooley’s Robert McDowell. “That won't be easy, but having worked with her in private practice and throughout my career, I know that she is super smart, diligent and efficient. Plus, over the decades, countless numbers of nominees who are also serving in other government positions have been able to do both -- work on their day jobs while pursuing Senate confirmation,” he said.
Given the time it takes to get an FCC commissioner nomination approved, Gomez “has time to do both,” said Shane Tews, American Enterprise Institute nonresident senior fellow. “I’d love to have someone at the FCC who has the knowledge of the WRC ambassador who has recently gone through the dialogues of a global economy,” she said.