White House Deference on Potential Clyburn FCC Replacement Questioned Amid Dems' Vetting Process
Senate Democrats are continuing the vetting process in their search for a so-far elusive consensus candidate to potentially replace FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn at the commission if she retires. Questions about Clyburn's plans have continued amid pending Senate consideration of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's renomination and fellow commission nominees Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel. Clyburn recently said in a C-SPAN interview she didn't intend to leave in the immediate future (see 1706290063 and 1706290070). The search for a potential replacement for Clyburn also raised questions about the extent to which President Donald Trump's administration will be willing give leeway to Senate Democratic leaders' preferred candidate, lobbyists and observers told us.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has a list of potential nominees that has not been made public, said former and current government officials. Former FCC staffer Gigi Sohn and John Branscome, an aide to Senate Commerce ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., were candidates, but are no longer in the running. Both were told they wouldn’t do enough to add to FCC diversity, said former FCC officials. Several other potential candidates' names are circulating via communications sector chatter, but there may be more clarity about who the front-runners are once the Senate acts on Carr, Rosenworcel and Pai, a Democratic lobbyist said.
It's “premature to discuss a replacement” for Clyburn given that she “has not announced her departure,” a Senate Commerce Democratic spokesman said. Nelson “has the utmost confidence” in Branscome, the spokesman said. Branscome and Sohn didn't comment.
Senate leadership and the White House have had an unwritten agreement since the late stages of Bill Clinton's presidency to largely let the Senate pick candidates for open minority seats at the FCC. But the Trump administration feels the White House gave up a lot in its agreement to reappoint Jessica Rosenworcel to the commission and might not be as willing to go along with other choices, former FCC officials said. “I have always wondered when some administration would question the deference to Congress on the minority seats,” said a former top FCC staffer. The White House didn't comment.
A Senate Democratic source said “we’ve received no indication” that Trump “doesn't intend to follow tradition” with future FCC Democratic nominees. The White House may ask FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to weigh in on a potential Democratic nominee to replace Clyburn given the “warm, personal relationship" that has blossomed between Trump and Pai, another Capitol Hill source said. But other observers said if the White House ignores Schumer, it could face more trouble from Senate Democrats. The White House already has pushed back on Schumer’s call for Trump to nominate former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Assistant Director Rohit Chopra as an FTC commissioner (see 1705090048).
“Given the history with Rosenworcel, if the White House tried to force a completely unacceptable candidate upon the Senate, Schumer would turn it into a holy war,” said Andrew Schwartzman, Georgetown Law Institute for Public Representation senior counselor. “This has become bigger than the FCC.” A White House nomination to replace Clyburn that didn't defer to Senate Democrats certainly would be a “departure” from tradition, but “I've seen no signs” that the White House is planning to take that step at this point, said Public Knowledge Vice President Chris Lewis.
It's unlikely the White House will choose to diverge too far from traditional deference to Senate Democrats on FCC Democratic nominees, said other communications sector lobbyists with knowledge of the Senate nominations process. One GOP-leaning lobbyist said a unilateral White House nomination of a new FCC Democrat would be a last-step “nuclear option” that likely wouldn't come into play unless Senate leaders fixate on an overly controversial candidate. “A lot of traditions may be falling in the Senate,” but White House deference on the minority party's nominations at the FCC and elsewhere isn't likely to disappear even under Trump, a Democratic lobbyist said.
“At the end of the day [Trump] will end up nominating the person [Senate Democrats] want to be nominated for the second Democratic slot,” said a former FCC legal adviser with wireless clients. “You hear these things at the beginning of every administration, but new presidents … soon realize that it is not worth the trouble of pushing back against the traditional process.”
The White House also could choose not to nominate anyone to replace Clyburn when she eventually leaves, a Hill source said. Trump nominated Carr for the remainder of former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s term and an additional five-year term ending in 2023, so there may not be a Republican to pair a Clyburn replacement with, especially if the deal struck involves a Rosenworcel confirmation in return for Carr and another term for Pai, the official said.