President Barack Obama hadn’t chosen either of the FCC Democrats,...
President Barack Obama hadn’t chosen either of the FCC Democrats, Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, as interim chairman by our deadline Wednesday. Typically, the new president picks the senior member of his party, in this case Copps. New presidential…
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administrations have in recent years sent a letter in their first few day to one of the commissioners. “I hear it’s in the stack of things to get done,” an industry official said. The FCC commissioners could choose an acting chairman under section 5(a) of the Communications Act. But that hasn’t happened in recent history. Eight years ago, President George W. Bush announced though a spokesman two days after the inauguration that Michael Powell would be chairman. Eight years earlier, commissioners reached an informal agreement that James Quello would serve as interim chairman but then his office received a letter from the White House making it official. The status of several political jobs at the commission is also unclear. Historically, bureau chiefs and other top officials appointed by the chairman generally haven’t stepped down until new appointments are made. If Obama soon chooses Julius Genachowski to be the chairman, as expected, the acting chairman might hold off on making new appointments.