Election winner will get chance to reshape FCC
Election winner will get chance to reshape FCC
Nov 2, 2004
WASHINGTON -- As voters go to the polls today, they probably won't be thinking about the makeup of the FCC. But whoever wins the presidency will get a shot at giving the nation's chief telecommunications regulator an extreme makeover worthy of a network reality show.
A majority on the five-member commission, which has a say in everything from telephone rates to indecent television, goes to the party that occupies the White House. While a change in administrations would shift the balance of power on the commission to the Democrats, whoever inhabits 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. probably will get to pack the commission with new faces.
Democratic commissioner Jonathan Adelstein's term has expired, so unless he is reappointed, his tenure ends when Congress adjourns after the lame-duck session. Most observers think that President Bush has no plans to reappoint Adelstein, leaving a vacant seat at the beginning of the next Congress. Adelstein's reappointment could hinge on whether Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota is re-elected. Adelstein was a top aide to Daschle, who is in a tough race, before gaining an FCC seat.
Also likely to go is controversial chairman Michael Powell. If Sen. John Kerry beats Bush, Powell is expected to resign soon after the inauguration. He could stay on as a minority commissioner in the Kerry administration as his term runs until 2007, but that's unlikely. Powell already has served as a minority commissioner in the Clinton administration, and insiders say he is ready for another job. The latest buzz is that he would become president of William & Mary College, his alma mater, but there also has been speculation that he wants to run for Senate or he's got his eye on the federal bench.
If Powell leaves and Bush retains the White House, he would designate a new chairman. The most likely scenario is that Bush will elevate commissioner Kevin Martin. While many observers think that is likely, Martin has angered a lot of powerful people when he voted with the Democrats on competition rules for telephone companies and his insistence that the media ownership "diversity index" apply only to newspaper-broadcast cross ownership.
His main competition appears to come from former Texas Public Utility commissioner Rebecca Klein. Before her appointment to the Texas PUC, Klein was policy director of general government for then-Texas Gov. Bush. Klein also served in the Air Force Reserve during Desert Storm. She is running for Congress but is considered a long shot.
If Bush chooses Klein or another person for the chairmanship, Martin isn't expected to stick around very long. He's ambitious for another challenge and a bigger job and has been testing the waters for a bid for Congress in his home state of North Carolina.
Republican commissioner Kathleen Abernathy's term expires at the end of next year, and many people think she is ready to leave the commission. If she does, then Klein or someone else could get her spot. Other names on the Republican shortlist for her seat include National Telecommunications and Information Administration director Michael Gallagher; William Bailey, chief telecom adviser to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; and FCC chief of staff Bryan Tramont.
If Kerry wins, then the Democrats take control. Commissioner Michael Copps is thought to have the inside track for the chairman's job in a Kerry victory, but Copps' outspoken opposition to easing media ownership rules could make things difficult. However, the White House designates a chairman, and that designation does not need Senate approval like the appointments do.
Greg Rothschild, senior Democratic counsel on the House Commerce Committee and an aide to Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., as well as a former Kerry aide, has been mentioned for both Adelstein's seat and as chairman of the committee.
While many of the issues the FCC deals with have no partisan slant, the way the panel deals with media ownership decisions does. Democrats, led by Copps and Adelstein, are outspoken in their desire to keep the media companies from getting any bigger. A change in party at the helm of the panel will most likely have an impact in that area, according to veteran commission observers. Both Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., have said they oppose easing the rules.
"I don't think you'll see much movement on that if the Democrats come in," said former FCC chairman Dick Wiley, who now heads the law firm Wiley, Rein and Fielding. "I think they want to keep the rules the same as they are."
The GOP-dominated commission eased the rules last year. The federal appeals court in Philadelphia threw out rules that would have allowed greater ownership of television and radio stations in the same market.
A decision on whether to appeal that decision is pending. That decision could very well rest on who controls the White House and hence the FCC.
"If Powell stays, the FCC is likely to turn to the Supreme Court," Wiley said. "If it's commissioner Copps, there is more of chance they'll just keep the old rules."
A majority on the five-member commission, which has a say in everything from telephone rates to indecent television, goes to the party that occupies the White House. While a change in administrations would shift the balance of power on the commission to the Democrats, whoever inhabits 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. probably will get to pack the commission with new faces.
Democratic commissioner Jonathan Adelstein's term has expired, so unless he is reappointed, his tenure ends when Congress adjourns after the lame-duck session. Most observers think that President Bush has no plans to reappoint Adelstein, leaving a vacant seat at the beginning of the next Congress. Adelstein's reappointment could hinge on whether Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota is re-elected. Adelstein was a top aide to Daschle, who is in a tough race, before gaining an FCC seat.
Also likely to go is controversial chairman Michael Powell. If Sen. John Kerry beats Bush, Powell is expected to resign soon after the inauguration. He could stay on as a minority commissioner in the Kerry administration as his term runs until 2007, but that's unlikely. Powell already has served as a minority commissioner in the Clinton administration, and insiders say he is ready for another job. The latest buzz is that he would become president of William & Mary College, his alma mater, but there also has been speculation that he wants to run for Senate or he's got his eye on the federal bench.
If Powell leaves and Bush retains the White House, he would designate a new chairman. The most likely scenario is that Bush will elevate commissioner Kevin Martin. While many observers think that is likely, Martin has angered a lot of powerful people when he voted with the Democrats on competition rules for telephone companies and his insistence that the media ownership "diversity index" apply only to newspaper-broadcast cross ownership.
His main competition appears to come from former Texas Public Utility commissioner Rebecca Klein. Before her appointment to the Texas PUC, Klein was policy director of general government for then-Texas Gov. Bush. Klein also served in the Air Force Reserve during Desert Storm. She is running for Congress but is considered a long shot.
If Bush chooses Klein or another person for the chairmanship, Martin isn't expected to stick around very long. He's ambitious for another challenge and a bigger job and has been testing the waters for a bid for Congress in his home state of North Carolina.
Republican commissioner Kathleen Abernathy's term expires at the end of next year, and many people think she is ready to leave the commission. If she does, then Klein or someone else could get her spot. Other names on the Republican shortlist for her seat include National Telecommunications and Information Administration director Michael Gallagher; William Bailey, chief telecom adviser to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; and FCC chief of staff Bryan Tramont.
If Kerry wins, then the Democrats take control. Commissioner Michael Copps is thought to have the inside track for the chairman's job in a Kerry victory, but Copps' outspoken opposition to easing media ownership rules could make things difficult. However, the White House designates a chairman, and that designation does not need Senate approval like the appointments do.
Greg Rothschild, senior Democratic counsel on the House Commerce Committee and an aide to Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., as well as a former Kerry aide, has been mentioned for both Adelstein's seat and as chairman of the committee.
While many of the issues the FCC deals with have no partisan slant, the way the panel deals with media ownership decisions does. Democrats, led by Copps and Adelstein, are outspoken in their desire to keep the media companies from getting any bigger. A change in party at the helm of the panel will most likely have an impact in that area, according to veteran commission observers. Both Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., have said they oppose easing the rules.
"I don't think you'll see much movement on that if the Democrats come in," said former FCC chairman Dick Wiley, who now heads the law firm Wiley, Rein and Fielding. "I think they want to keep the rules the same as they are."
The GOP-dominated commission eased the rules last year. The federal appeals court in Philadelphia threw out rules that would have allowed greater ownership of television and radio stations in the same market.
A decision on whether to appeal that decision is pending. That decision could very well rest on who controls the White House and hence the FCC.
"If Powell stays, the FCC is likely to turn to the Supreme Court," Wiley said. "If it's commissioner Copps, there is more of chance they'll just keep the old rules."
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