Sullivan Won't Lift Hold on Carr Yet After 'Productive' Pai Meeting
A nearly two-hour Thursday meeting between FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, on USF Rural Health Care Program issues (see 1811150044) concluded with Sullivan's related hold remaining on Senate reconfirmation of Commissioner Brendan Carr to a full five-year term. The hold will continue at least through Congress' weeklong Thanksgiving recess. Sullivan acted in September (see 1809120056).
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Chances are beginning to increase substantially the Senate will have to wait until the new Congress to confirm Carr and Democratic FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks, lobbyists told us. Senate leaders intend to advance the two as a pair (see 1809130059).
Sullivan told reporters the meeting was “productive” and allowed him to fully “raise the concerns” about FCC handling of RHC subsidies that have affected Alaska. “There's still some follow-up that from our perspective needs to be done,” Sullivan said: “I'm not lifting” the hold on Carr before FCC follow-up actions. Alaska-based GCI Communications' appealed Wireline Bureau reduction in its FY 2017 RHC support (see 1811130040). Pai didn't comment on the meeting as he exited Sullivan's office. His agency declined a follow-up request Friday.
Sullivan said he sought “transparency, predictability [and] a deeper understanding of the methodology that will make sure that the ecosystem of the RHC program and providers is sustainable.” Sullivan had heard concerns from rural healthcare providers that uncertainties about how much the FCC would reimburse RHC-participating telecoms were making them “concerned with the future of the program,” said a Hill official.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said before the meeting he hoped Sullivan and Pai would “reach an understanding” that would let the Senate confirm Carr and Starks this year. Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told us he also hopes the Senate will be able to confirm Carr and Starks this year. President Donald Trump would need to renominate both to make them eligible for Senate consideration next year.
Telecom-focused lobbyists are beginning to doubt the Senate can confirm Carr and Starks during the remaining legislative days this Congress. The Senate is scheduled to remain in session through Dec. 14, though an earlier or later adjournment is possible, subject to leaders' plans, a Senate aide said.
“I think it's a long shot” at this point given Sullivan's hold and internal Senate dynamics, one Republican-focused lobbyist said. Senate leaders weren't successful in moving Carr and Starks as part of confirmations packages beginning in July (see 1806290037), well before Sullivan's hold became a factor, a telecom lobbyist noted. Carr can remain on the FCC even though his current term nominally expired at the end of June, making it “less than critical” Senate leaders push through reconfirmation now, the lobbyist said.
Former GOP Commissioner Robert McDowell and others said a breakthrough is possible. “Complex confirmation logjams have a way of being resolved right before the end” of a Congress, said McDowell, now at Cooley. “So no one should draw any conclusions until sine die [adjournment] right before Christmas. Anything could happen” at the last minute.
There's "always concern about gamesmanship” in the Senate, but Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood isn't "particularly concerned” about Starks' chances of confirmation. “It's unfortunate” Pai's dispute affecting Carr “could sideswipe” Starks' confirmation process, Wood said. Carr and Starks remain “each other's best leverage” because the Senate, even when it convenes in January with a stronger Republican majority, will likely need to pair the nominees, a Republican-focused lobbyist said.