No Clear Front-Runner to Replace FCC's Starks After Resignation Announcement
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.
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Starks said he plans to resign “this Spring” and noted that he had informed the White House and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “Over the next few weeks, I look forward to working with [FCC Chairman Brendan Carr] and my fellow Commissioners, and all FCC staff, to further the mission of the agency,” Starks said. He listed his achievements of connecting all Americans, promoting innovation, protecting consumers and ensuring national security. Carr and Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez praised Starks’ FCC tenure, including his work on national security issues.
Communications-policy-focused officials, lobbyists and congressional aides noted that there's no clear front-runner to replace Starks, despite his looming exit being an open secret for months. Schumer pressed Starks in the weeks after the Nov. 5 presidential election to delay his exit, which he apparently originally targeted for Jan. 20, in tandem with then-Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s departure. Starks agreed he wouldn’t leave the FCC as long as it would shift the commission to a Republican majority (see 2412040046).
Several officials and lobbyists pointed to Didier Barjon, Schumer’s tech and telecom legislative aide, as a likely contender to succeed Starks. They noted that Barjon’s connection to Schumer would be a major factor in his favor, because the Senate leader whose party doesn’t hold the White House traditionally gets to pick any minority party FCC nominee. Lobbyists previously mentioned Barjon as a potential contender in 2022 to replace then-FCC nominee Gigi Sohn amid her ultimately unsuccessful confirmation process (see 2211300074).
Officials and lobbyists also mentioned SpaceX's David Goldman, ex-Rosenworcel Chief of Staff Narda Jones, former Incompas President Angie Kronenberg and T-Mobile Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Smitty Smith as potential contenders. Several lobbyists said they believe two people earlier viewed as contenders, when chatter about Starks' potential departure first circulated, now appear less likely: new Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition Executive Director Joey Wender and Phil Murphy, a Senate Communications Subcommittee Democratic aide and former White House Office of Science and Technology Policy assistant director-spectrum and telecom policy.
'Anything' Is Possible
A communications industry lobbyist said Starks timed the announcement to give Senate Democrats an opportunity to pair his replacement nominee with Republican FCC nominee Olivia Trusty. Other lobbyists doubted Senate Republicans would delay Trusty’s confirmation process for Trump to select Starks’ replacement, even if chamber Democrats push back. Senate Commerce GOP leaders have been eyeing potential dates for a confirmation hearing for Trusty and NTIA nominee Arielle Roth (see 2503070065). Some lobbyists expect that hearing to happen before the end of April.
Starks’ departure could put the FCC on a path to having only three commissioners, some industry officials said. Republican Commissioner Nathan Simington is also considering an FCC exit, but officials said he is unlikely to depart as long as it would eliminate a GOP majority. The Communications Act requires “the maximum number of commissioners who may be members of the same political party shall be a number equal to the least number of commissioners which constitutes a majority of the full membership of the Commission,” so a three-member commission of two Republicans and one Democrat would satisfy the statute.
Several FCC watchers told us Trump’s assertion of authority over independent agencies and moves such as firing Democratic Federal Election Commission Chair Ellen Weintraub mean it wouldn’t be a surprise if he declined to nominate another Democratic FCC commissioner. Trump fired Democratic FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter late Tuesday afternoon, an action Bedoya said was illegal. The Trump administration is seeking U.S. Supreme Court reversal of Humphrey's Executor v. U.S., a unanimous 1935 high court decision that set a precedent preventing the president from firing members of commissions like the FTC (see 2503040019).
“In a world where [Trump] is talking about firing” independent agencies’ opposition-party commissioners, “it seems like anything is on the table," Free Press Vice President-Policy Matt Wood told us before the FTC news broke. Carr’s Project 2025 chapter notes that the tradition of the president nominating a commissioner selected by the Senate leader of the opposite political party “dates back a few decades” and is “not required by law.”
Michael Calabrese, director of New America's Wireless Future Program, said he expects Trump will respect Senate Democratic leaders' prerogative to choose Starks' replacement. “That is one reason so many commissioners have been former Senate staffers,” he said. While it’s possible Trump could nominate an independent, “or even a nominal Democrat with an outlook closer to his own,” there's "little practical upside for the administration, since the two Democrats could always be outvoted, and [Carr] completely controls the commission’s agenda.”