Rosenworcel's Voteless Final Meeting Not a Surprise
For her final meeting, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appears poised to follow an approach closer to that of former Chairman Tom Wheeler at the end of the Obama administration than of Ajit Pai when the first Donald Trump presidency concluded. Rather than scheduled votes, the Jan. 15 open meeting will feature commission staff leading four presentations (see 2412230045).
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Industry officials said this week it’s unclear whether Rosenworcel will push through big items outside the meeting before leaving Jan. 20. Trump said he will designate Commissioner Brendan Carr as chair when he takes office.
The final meeting under Pai, on Jan. 13, 2021, lasted nearly three hours and included five staff presentations. Commissioners also approved an NPRM seeking comment on revised rules for the lower 12 GHz band. Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks concurred with the NPRM. Starks noted at the time it was based on a 2016 petition. “This NPRM would have been more appropriate years ago as opposed to these final closeout days,” he added.
Commissioners also cleared bidding procedures for the 2.5 GHz auction and unveiled the first round of selections for the agency's Connected Care pilot program (see 2101130067).
On the other hand, Wheeler’s term as chair ended more quietly. He removed all major items from the agenda for the November 2016 meeting under pressure from Hill Republicans (see 1611160048). The FCC’s January meeting in 2017 was Jan. 31, after Trump took office.
The last meeting of the FCC under then-Chairman Kevin Martin, five days before Barack Obama took office as president on Jan. 20, 2009, consisted of three panels and staff presentations.
"Chairs have viewed their departures differently when the White House changes party hands,” Cooley’s Robert McDowell, a former FCC member, wrote in an email. Many have respected the “pencils down" letters from Congress. “Others have circulated controversial items left as 'parting gifts' for their successors to deal with,” McDowell said: While the current FCC “could have a few more surprises in store for us, the recent trajectory of the commission has been to ramp down significant actions.”
McDowell noted Rosenworcel has worked at the FCC, first as a staffer and then as a commissioner, across more than two decades “and has been involved with pretty much every major commission policy initiative since then in her various roles.” Rosenworcel “may feel as if her work is done, and it is time to turn out the lights and close the door behind her as she exits.” Amid stints at the FCC, Rosenworcel was also a Senate staffer.
If there are things Rosenworcel “can get off her plate, she's likely to do so to burnish her legacy,” predicted Summit Ridge Group President Armand Musey. But Rosenworcel “knows Carr's views quite well, and it also doesn’t make a lot of sense to push things through that will likely be reversed under Carr,” he said: “She has to look for some items that are not too controversial.”
Rosenworcel doesn’t appear to be “trying to push through any big last-minute items,” said Free State Foundation President Randolph May. “With the change in administration, that modesty, if it holds, is appropriate,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with panel presentations [at her final meeting] that tout what Rosenworcel sees as her accomplishments.” To the extent the presentations are accurate, “they can serve as benchmarks for measuring future progress, or, if necessary, for a change of direction by the Brendan Carr-led FCC.”
It's "not really unusual" for a "lame-duck" FCC not to hold votes during its final meeting, said Adonis Hoffman, a former aide to former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.