Senate Democrats Press Biden to Name Rosenworcel FCC Chair
Half of the Senate Democratic caucus, including Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, pressed President Joe Biden Wednesday to renominate acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and designate her as permanent…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
chair “as quickly as possible.” Democrats’ frustration with the Biden administration is growing over delay in picking nominees for two Democratic commission seats (see 2109220049). “It is absolutely essential that there are trusted, qualified appointees leading” agencies charged with distributing $65 billion in broadband money included in the Senate-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (HR-3684) and additional funding included in COVID-19 aid measures, the 25 senators wrote Biden. “Further delay simply puts at risk the major broadband goals that we share and that Congress has worked hard to advance as part of your administration’s agenda.” Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia led the letter, which has support from Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and all but three Democratic Commerce Committee members -- Chair Maria Cantwell of Washington, Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Raphael Warnock of Georgia. “There is no better qualified or more competent person” to be permanent FCC chair right now than Rosenworcel, the senators said. “We have long experience working with her and her team, and she has already shown an ability to steer the FCC through these extraordinary and difficult times. Importantly, we believe” Rosenworcel “will face few obstacles to her confirmation. She has previously been approved on a bipartisan basis, and was unanimously approved by the Senate in 2012. It will take months for a different nominee to move through the process, hire staff and begin implementing an agenda, leading to indecision and gridlock at the very time decisiveness is most critical.” The White House and FCC didn’t comment Thursday.