FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly appears to have the support of several top Republicans to remain for another term, a factor officials told us makes him strongly favored for renomination. One stumbling block appears to be the timeline for President Donald Trump to re-up him amid a souring confirmations atmosphere on Capitol Hill caused by the House impeachment inquiry and 2020 presidential campaign. O'Rielly's term expired June 30 (see 1412170031). He can remain until this Congress ends at the beginning of 2021.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is unlikely to rush to address a remand on public safety, an issue remanded for further work by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Tuesday that largely upheld the FCC 2017 order overturning 2015 net neutrality rules (see 1910010018). Others said Wednesday because the issues involve public safety, the agency may feel compelled to respond (see 1910020028).
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.
The FCC’s fourth court loss on quadrennial updates to media ownership rules (see 1906130052) rolls those updates back and could have consequences for pending and just-completed deals such as Nexstar/Tribune and Apollo/Cox and for future radio deregulation, said broadcast attorneys on both sides of the issue in interviews Monday.
Changing name to Benton Institute for Broadband & Society (see 1909170012), it hires current Benton Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman from Georgetown Law’s Communications and Technology Law Clinic; he also keeps teaching at Johns Hopkins University ... New at Accenture: Cybersecurity expert Aaron Faulkner heads Accenture Federal Services Federal Cyber practice ... Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Robert Adler takes over as acting chairman effective Oct. 1 and was elected vice chairman by commissioners Friday, and heads CPSC until Senate OKs a new chairman; he succeeds acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle, whose term ends Oct. 27; she withdraws nominations as chairman and commissioner for another term.
Changing name to Benton Institute for Broadband & Society (see 1909170012), it hires current Benton Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman from Georgetown Law’s Communications and Technology Law Clinic; he also keeps teaching at Johns Hopkins University ... New at Accenture: Cybersecurity expert Aaron Faulkner heads Accenture Federal Services Federal Cyber practice ... Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Robert Adler takes over as acting chairman effective Oct. 1 and was elected vice chairman by commissioners Friday, and heads CPSC until Senate OKs a new chairman; he succeeds acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle, whose term ends Oct. 27; she withdraws nominations as chairman and commissioner for another term.
The Benton Foundation is now the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, as it puts a particular focus on broadband policy, it said Tuesday. It said its priorities will include affordable, open broadband access for U.S. residents and supporting legal and policy experts interested in the public benefits of broadband. It said Andrew Schwartzman is joining (see the personals section).
The Benton Foundation is now the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, as it puts a particular focus on broadband policy, it said Tuesday. It said its priorities will include affordable, open broadband access for U.S. residents and supporting legal and policy experts interested in the public benefits of broadband. It said Andrew Schwartzman is joining (see the personals section).
The FCC's order approving Nexstar’s buy of Tribune with a 2-2 party line split could have consequences for advocacy groups seeking to weigh in on future FCC decisions, said dissents from Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Jessica Rosenworcel. Many lawyers agreed.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is weighing next steps after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed a key part of the FCC’s March 2018 wireless infrastructure order Friday (see 1908090021). The court said in United Keetoowah Band v. FCC, No. 18-1129, the FCC unlawfully excluded small cells from National Environmental Protection Act and the National Historic Preservation Act review. The court upheld other parts of the order. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hasn't heard oral argument in a challenge to other small-cell permitting rules the FCC approved last year (see 1906180022),