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President Biden Names Jessica Rosenworcel as Interim FCC Chair
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President Biden names Jessica Rosenworcel as interim FCC chair [cnet.com]:
President Joe Biden named Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel [fcc.gov] as interim chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday. Rosenworcel, who has served as a commissioner for eight years, will lead the agency until a permanent chair is confirmed by the Senate.
Rosenworcel is the second woman in the agency's history to take the role of acting chair.
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President Barack Obama first nominated Rosenworcel to the FCC in 2011. She has served since May 2012, when she was confirmed by the Senate, and is the most senior commissioner.
Rosenworcel has been a strong proponent of net neutrality and improving the FCC's broadband coverage maps. She's also pushed the agency to do more to close the so-called homework gap, an issue that's gained more prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic when most school-age children in the country are accessing school remotely via the internet. The homework gap is a term used to describe students who lack adequate broadband service to access school and homework. It's a persistent problem, especially among rural and low-income students, who are unable to get access to or afford broadband service.
"I am honored to be designated as the acting chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission by President Biden," Rosenworcel said in a statement Thursday. "I thank the president for the opportunity to lead an agency with such a vital mission and talented staff. It is a privilege to serve the American people and work on their behalf to expand the reach of communications opportunity in the digital age."
Rosenworcel's appointment to the top job prompted praise from both the industry and public interest groups. Broadband and wireless provider Verizon said it was a "smart choice" for Biden to choose Rosenworcel to head up the agency until a permanent head is named.
"Through her many years of public service at the FCC and on Capitol Hill, Commissioner Rosenworcel has developed a deep understanding of the importance of modern communications networks to consumers and to our nation," Kathy Grillo, Verizon's senior vice president and deputy general counsel, said in a statement. "Her passion and efforts to address the digital divide and close the homework gap are truly issues that will make a difference to millions of Americans."
The consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge echoed those sentiments.
"Over the last four years, Commissioner Rosenworcel has advocated for strong consumer rights and protections [outlook.com] on the full range of issues before the Commission, be it broadband affordability, higher-speed broadband connectivity at home, or access to innovative technologies," said Greg Guice, director of government affairs for Public knowledge. "Public Knowledge looks forward to working with Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel to fully engage the public in a consumer-focused agenda to promote the economic, health and educational benefits of a broadband connected economy."
A divided FCC remains
Given the current makeup of the FCC, Rosenworcel won't likely be able to act on any big policy issues just yet. The FCC is currently split [cnet.com] with two Democrats and two Republicans. This means that big issues, like the reinstatement of Obama-era net neutrality rules [cnet.com], won't likely be tackled until a permanent chair is named. Once the Senate confirms another Democrat to the FCC, Democrats will have the majority they need to push a more aggressive policy agenda.
Net neutrality aside, there are still plenty of issues for Rosenworcel to tackle. She is taking control of the agency at a time when the FCC is tasked with implementing a pandemic stimulus program [fcc.gov] authorized by Congress to help offer broadband rebates and subsidies to people struggling to pay for internet service. She is also likely to push for the FCC to release money allocated under the E-rate program to help subsidize the cost of Wi-Fi hotspots and other technology to students in need. The previous chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, had resisted allocating these resources, arguing the E-rate program could only allocate funds for classroom technology.
It's unclear when Biden will name a permanent chair to the FCC or who that chair will be. It's still possible he could name Rosenworcel to the job on a permanent basis.
Some advocacy groups have pushed for Biden to nominate the other Democratic commissioner, Geoffrey Starks, as the next FCC chair.
The racial justice organization Color of Change put out a statement last week in support of Starks [colorofchange.org].
"Starks has demonstrated and recently reaffirmed his commitment to digital equity through Net Neutrality and Title II, broadband expansion via the Lifeline program, and expanding the FCC's E-rate program to ensure children have the access they need for online learning," Rashad Robinson, Color of Change president, said in a statement. "The pandemic has underscored the reality that internet access is a clear equity issue — failing to meet this fact with policy will leave Black people behind."
Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel replaces Ajit Pai, is now acting FCC chairwoman [arstechnica.com]:
President Joe Biden today appointed Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel to be the acting chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission. Rosenworcel became an FCC commissioner in 2012 and served in a Democratic majority during the Obama years and in a Democratic minority during the Trump years.
"I am honored to be designated as the Acting Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission by President Biden," Rosenworcel said in a statement [fcc.gov]. "I thank the President for the opportunity to lead an agency with such a vital mission and talented staff. It is a privilege to serve the American people and work on their behalf to expand the reach of communications opportunity in the digital age."
With ex-Chairman Ajit Pai having left the FCC yesterday, [arstechnica.com] there is a 2-2 split between Democrats and Republicans. To form a 3-2 Democratic majority, Biden will have to nominate a new commissioner and secure confirmation from the Senate—which shouldn't be too difficult now that Democrats control the chamber. Biden's decision to promote Rosenworcel from commissioner to acting chairwoman does not require Senate approval.
Designating Rosenworcel as the acting chairwoman means that she may not be the chair throughout Biden's four-year term. Biden could upgrade her role to chairwoman on a permanent basis, or he could give the chair role to whomever he picks as the fifth commissioner. Technically, Biden could also give the permanent chair role to the FCC's other Democrat, Geoffrey Starks, but that seems unlikely.
FCC could bring back net neutrality
As a commissioner, Rosenworcel has supported net neutrality rules and common-carrier regulation of broadband providers, pushed for increases in the FCC's broadband-speed standard, and prioritized broadband access for children from low-income families.
The FCC press release announcing the appointment today said that "Rosenworcel has worked to promote greater opportunity, accessibility, and affordability in our communications services in order to ensure that all Americans get a fair shot at 21st century success. From fighting to protect net neutrality to ensuring access to the Internet for students caught in the Homework Gap, she has been a consistent champion for connecting all. She is a leader in spectrum policy, developing new ways to support wireless services from Wi-Fi to video and the Internet of things."
Four years ago, President Donald Trump promoted Pai to the chairman's spot without any "acting" designation. The last acting chair was Democrat Mignon Clyburn [arstechnica.com], who held the role for six months in 2013 before the Senate confirmation of Obama nominee Tom Wheeler. Wheeler, Clyburn, and Rosenworcel formed the Democratic majority that enacted the net neutrality rules [arstechnica.com] that were later repealed by Pai's Republican majority.
Even with a 2-2 deadlock, Rosenworcel can take some actions that don't require a full commission vote, as we've previously written [arstechnica.com]. For example, she could change the FCC's positions in ongoing lawsuits, such as the one the Trump administration filed [arstechnica.com] to block California's state net neutrality law. Reinstating FCC net neutrality rules and common-carrier regulation of ISPs will require a majority.
Consumer-advocacy group Free Press [freepress.net] applauded Biden's pick of Rosenworcel, saying:
As a commissioner, Rosenworcel has challenged the Trump FCC's worst actions and impulses. Now she must rebuild after the previous regime tried to demolish so much of the agency's most important work. Rosenworcel's long record of public service and deep knowledge of the issues before the FCC make her uniquely suited to fixing what has been broken at the agency over the past four years. We hope she will use the power of the office to push immediately for long-overdue changes that can improve people's lives, create opportunities for new and diverse voices, and make the FCC an agency that's committed to public needs rather than corporate greed.
Biden today also promoted [ftc.gov] Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Kelly Slaughter to the FTC's acting chair role. An FTC announcement said that Slaughter has "been particularly outspoken about combatting systemic racism, growing threats to competition, and the broad abuse of consumers' data." Free Press said that Slaughter has "been persistently clear-headed on combating corporate malfeasance and argued for real remedies that these same companies can't shrug off as the cost of doing business." The announcement added that she is likely to "chart a new path forward for the agency and use its powers to address pressing civil-rights harms and systemic racial inequalities in privacy, antitrust enforcement and in our economy writ large."
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