More on the Missing Commissioner: Tate, Copps in at FCC, but Where is Russell?

After months of delay, President Bush announced two appointments to the FCC yesterday–Republican Deborah Tate , currently director of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, and Democrat Michael Copps, who will be reappointed to his current seat. Neither was a surprise. What should raise eyebrows, however, is the missing name–White House tech staffer Richard Russell, who had been widely expected to be tapped for a third seat. His absence–reportedly due to objections by Sen Ted “Bridge to Nowhere” Stevens–is cause for concern.

Tate will fill the empty seat left by departed FCC chair Michael Powell, giving the Republicans a 3-2 edge at the agency. This is good news. The current 2-2 split has stalled the commission, and given the two Democratic members veto power over decision making. Case in point: the recent conditional approval of the AT&T and MCI acquisitions.

Copps’ reappointment is more disturbing. Like a modern-day Will Rogers, it seems Copps has never met a regulation he doesn’t like. He is an avid critic of free markets, and (except perhaps on indecency issues) seems to oppose the Bush agenda across the board. Yet, he gets Bush’s nod for the seat because of a recently invented “tradition” of letting Democratic Senate leaders choose Democratic members of the FCC. By bowing to this practice, Bush is sacrificing not just his presidential perogatives, but good telecom policy.

Yesterday’s surprise however was the FCC dog that did not bark–Richard Russell. Russell is a highly-regarded associate director at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and had been widely assumed to be in line for the FCC seat being vacated by Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy. So what happened? Apparently, he was nixed by Commerce Committee chair Ted Stevens. Stevens–who most recently has been in the news for spending billions on empty bridges in Alaska and subsidies for old TVs–reportedly did not think Russell was adequately supportive of rural telephone service subsidies.

The details–as they tend to be in such situations–are unclear. Russell may or may not still be in the running. And if he is out, who will replace him? And who will choose? Having given away the right to choose the two Democratic members, the White House can scarcely afford cede the rest of its appointment power. Certainly there should be at least some appointments saved for people who actually support the president’s agenda. Or–perhaps I’m dreaming here–actually support free-markets.

Stay tuned.

SHARE: