President Donald Trump’s unprecedented firing of Democratic FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter on Tuesday doesn’t necessarily mean FCC Democrats Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez are next, industry experts said. Starks has already announced plans to leave the agency this spring (see 2503180067). The two FTC Democrats have vowed to fight.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks’ announcement Tuesday that he plans to resign from the commission in the spring (see 2503180009) is already prompting speculation about potential successors, despite there not being an obvious front-runner. Some officials voiced renewed concerns about whether President Donald Trump will use the upcoming vacancy as an opportunity to erode FCC norms, either by not filling Starks’ role or picking a Democratic nominee who hews more closely to the administration’s telecom policy priorities.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks plans to resign this spring, he said in a statement Tuesday. An FCC official told us it’s not yet clear if there's a replacement Democratic commissioner lined up. Starks previously signaled that he wouldn’t leave the agency if his departure would shift the FCC to a Republican majority.
The FCC’s “In Re: Delete Delete Delete” proceeding could draw a huge number of response filings and is expected to require numerous subsequent rulemakings to lead to actual changes, said industry officials and academics. “Every single regulated entity will sit on Santa's lap and ask for presents,” said TechFreedom Senior Counsel Jim Dunstan. “It will take months just to sift through all the asks and determine how to proceed.”
The FCC has created an internal, multi-bureau national security taskforce “to promote America’s national security and counter foreign adversaries, particularly the threats posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in a news release Thursday. Called the Council for National Security, the group will include members from eight bureaus and FCC offices. Carr’s national security counsel, Adam Chan, will lead the group, the release said. It didn't specify which bureaus and offices will be involved, and the agency didn’t immediately respond to questions about the group's makeup or whether it will hold public meetings.
The FCC Office of Managing Director announced Thursday a proposed Q2 USF contribution factor of 36.6%, as calculated by the Universal Service Administrative Co. That’s up from 36.3% the previous quarter and the highest quarterly contribution factor in the program's history. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear FCC v. Consumers’ Research March 26, a case about the contribution factor's legality.
The FCC on Tuesday sought comment on the competitive bidding procedures for the upcoming AWS-3 auction. The notice comes with an AWS-3 NPRM, approved 4-0 last month (see 2502270042), still pending. It proposes an ascending clock auction format where bidding in the opening phase would be for specific licenses, without a separate assignment phase, similar to the 2.5 GHz auction three years ago.
Free speech and press groups joined with the unusual alliance of NAB, Public Knowledge, TechFreedom and Free Press in condemning the FCC’s news distortion complaint against CBS in comments filed by Friday’s deadline in docket 25-73.
A group of more than 50 unions, public interest and consumer groups released a statement last week opposing White House control of independent agencies like the FCC. Meanwhile, major telecom and media trade associations and companies have been mostly quiet concerning the Donald Trump administration's actions to assert control of independent agencies and its dismissal of Democrats serving on federal commissions.
House Oversight Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., told us Wednesday that she has firmed up a late March date for a hearing with PBS CEO Paula Kerger and NPR CEO Katherine Maher to examine claims that public broadcasters’ content has a pro-Democratic bias (see 2502030064). Greene earlier this month proposed March 24 as one potential date for the hearing. The panel will take place amid growing GOP interest in ending federal funding for the broadcasters.