The Senate Commerce Committee has questioned the two nominees for seats on the Federal Communications Commission: Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel and Republican Ajit Pai. It is now set to vote on whether to refer them favorably to the full Senate. That is expected to happen, but trouble awaits on the Senate floor.
The two FCC nominees and three others will be voted on at an as-yet-unknown time, which will take place following the first roll call vote on the full Senate floor on Thursday 12/8/11.
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) continues to stand in the way of final approval for the nominations. He is still waiting for FCC documents concerning LightSquared. His request has not yet been met, and he still intends to put a hold on the nominations once they exit committee and move to the full Senate.
For those wondering what has Grassley on the warpath, here are his remarks issued back in November: “This holiday week document dump and the fact that these documents are already publicly available is a continuation of the FCC’s pattern of hiding any actual information regarding the LightSquared waiver. Whether it’s posting a bunch of old-news documents the day before Thanksgiving, or telling 99.6 percent of elected members Congress that the agency doesn’t have to be responsive to oversight, this is an agency with a very serious transparency problem. The FCC needs to stop playing games and make itself accountable to Congress, the media, and the American people.”
