WASHINGTON-Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) is pressing the White House to re-nominate Jonathan Adelstein to the Federal Communications Commission, but it appears the Bush administration is in no hurry to accommodate the Senate minority leader in an election year whose outcome could determine whether the Democratic appointee remains at the agency.
“Sen. Daschle strongly supports Commissioner Adelstein for re-nomination,” said Sarah Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the South Dakota lawmaker.
Adelstein is a former aide to Daschle, who struck a deal with President Bush early on to forward Democratic nominees to the White House. However, Senate Democrats who blocked judicial appointments in recent years have angered the Bush administration. White House officials might want to use Adelstein as a political pawn to win concessions on other appointees or issues.
Adelstein’s abbreviated first term, which began December 2002, expires June 30. Feinberg said Daschle has sent Adelstein’s re-nomination papers to the White House, but has not received a reply. Even though his situation is in limbo, Adelstein by law still can serve as FCC commissioner through the remainder of the 108th Congress. In other words, regardless of what happens, Adelstein will be at the FCC at least through the rest of this year.
Neither the White House nor Adelstein returned calls for comment.
Adelstein and fellow Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps have battled FCC Chairman Michael Powell on key telecom rulemakings at the commission. The FCC has a 3-to-2 Republican majority. Commissioners have staggered five-year terms.
One argument for Bush not rushing to re-nominate Adelstein is that it could become a moot point after the November general election. If, for example, President Bush were to have a strong showing in South Dakota in his re-election bid, it could give former Rep. John Thune (R-S.D.) enough of a lift to upset Daschle in the Senate race. Thune barely lost to Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) in a 2002 election whose final tally, according to some critics, was marred by voting irregularities. With a Thune victory, the Bush-Daschle pact on Adelstein would become meaningless.
Greg Rohde, a former Democratic head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and an ex-senior staff member of the Senate Commerce Committee, said holding back on Adelstein’s re-nomination could be risky for the Bush administration.
“By not sending the re-nomination up to Congress, there could be potential trouble for other nominees because the White House has more nominees they want to get through than Democrats do,” said Rohde, president of e-Copernicus, a telecom-consulting firm.
