WASHINGTON-Efforts to fill the seat on the Federal Communications Commission left vacant by the departure of former FCC Chairman Michael Powell were stymied late Thursday when Christine Kurth, deputy chief of staff for the Senate Commerce Committee, withdrew her name from consideration.
Kurth was sponsored by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. The Senate must approve all FCC vacancies. By tradition, FCC nominees appear before the Senate Commerce Committee prior to being voted on by the full Senate.
This is the second Stevens recommendation to be withdrawn. Earl Comstock, a former Stevens aide and now president of CompTel/Alts, withdrew his name earlier this year.
A statement released by the Senate Commerce Committee explained: “Should Kurth have been nominated and confirmed as an FCC commissioner, her husband, who consults for telecommunications companies, would have been required to cease work on behalf of his clients; or Kurth, as a commissioner, would have been required to recuse herself from various matters under the FCC’s jurisdiction even in situations where her husband was not working on the particular issue.”
Kurth’s decision came the same week that a senior executive from Verizon Communications Inc. said the FCC needs to be fully functioning, which means five members with none ready to leave.
“We need a fully functioning FCC. It is hard to make bold policy when you have one vacancy and two lame ducks,” said Thomas Tauke, Verizon executive vice president during a panel at Supercomm in Chicago.
The telecommunications policy world is still waiting for the Bush White House to nominate two Republicans and one Democrat to the FCC. In addition to the Powell seat, FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, whose term expired a year ago, has said she wants to leave. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps wants to stay, but his term expires at the end of the month.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chairman of the House Commerce Committee, has suggested Howard Waltzman, counsel for the House Commerce Committee. While Barton has a close relationship with the White House, the House has no formal role in the nominations process.
Rebecca Klein, a former chairwoman of the Texas Public Utility Commission and congressional candidate, has also been mentioned as a nominee.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin Thursday refused to comment on the vacancies.
In the meantime, Martin, who began his tenure as chairman in March, continues to name key staff. Martin said Donna Gregg would serve as chief of the FCC’s Media Bureau. He also named Roy Stewart as senior deputy Media Bureau chief and Deborah Klein as deputy chief.
Martin has yet to name a chief for the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau but he said Thursday that some appointments “will be made shortly.”
The media bureau is in charge of the transition to digital TV.
Gregg has served as vice president of legal & regulatory affairs and general counsel for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, a partner at Wiley, Rein & Fielding and in the FCC’s Cable Bureau, a precursor to the Media Bureau.
Stewart has been at the FCC for 40 years. Until Powell combined the mass media and cable bureaus, Stewart was mass media bureau chief. Most recently he has been chief of the media bureau’s office of broadcast license policy.
Deborah Klein has been serving as acting media bureau chief. RCR
RCR Wireless News Bureau Chief Jeffrey Silva contributed to this report.
