WASHINGTON—President-Elect Joe Biden has announced the transition teams for various government departments, including the FCC, which will feature four communications policy vets, including some already with FCC experience.
Mignon Clyburn, former FCC commissioner, who served as acting chair between Julius Genachowski and Tom Wheeler, will be part of the team. So will Paul de Sa, former chief for strategic planning and policy analysis under Wheeler when he was FCC chair.
The transition team will be led by John Williams, senior counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on the Judiciary. Edward “Smitty” Smith, deputy managing partner at DLA Piper LLP and a former legal advisor to Wheeler, rounds out the group.
TVT’s sister publication Multichannel News reported over the summer that Clyburn was among the candidates that could be nominated as FCC chair in a Biden administration.
According to the Biden-Harris transition website, these teams (officially called agency review teams) are responsible for understanding the operations of each agency, ensuring a smooth transition of power and preparing President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris for when they take office.
“The teams have been crafted to ensure they not only reflect the values and priorities of the incoming administration, but reflect the diversity of perspectives crucial for addressing America’s most urgent and complex challenges,” the website reads.
The FCC could see some significant change prior to the Biden administration taking over. President Trump nominee Nathan Simington is currently being considered to replace outgoing FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, though Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has threatened to put a hold on the nomination.
