US: FCC back to full strength after Senate confirmations

Last week the US Senate confirmed Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr to the FCC, bringing the commission back to five members for the first time since President Donald Trump took office.

Rosenworcel will be returning to the FCC after her tenure lapsed at the end of last year. That left the FCC with two vacancies, after the departure of Chairman Tom Wheeler just before Trump’s inaugurated. She and Mignon Clyburn will be the two Democrats on the commission.

Carr, currently general counsel of the FCC and a formerly a senior member of Chairman Ajit Pai’s team, will be filling the remainder of a term that will expire in 2018. He joins Pai and Commissioner Michael O’Rielly in the commission’s Republican majority.

The FCC, which since January has been controlled by Republicans by a 2-1 margin, is working to reverse a number of Obama-era telecommunications regulations, including the landmark 2015 net-neutrality rules prohibiting broadband providers from giving or selling access to certain internet services over others.

The Senate did not immediately vote to reconfirm FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to another term, even though he appeared at a confirmation hearing in July with the other nominees. Pai would need to leave the commission by the end of the year if he were not reconfirmed.

Full Content: Recode

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