FCC Chair Brendan Carr Names Acting Bureau Chiefs

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr continues to put his stamp on the agency with announcements naming acting heads of bureaus and other key positions, including acting general counsel and managing director.

“I am grateful that these talented public servants have agreed to join me in leading the FCC’s work and ensuring that we deliver great results for the American people,” Carr said. “They will play integral roles in carrying out the FCC’s important mission. I look forward to drawing on their counsel and advice, and I am eager to continue our work together.”

The new appointments include:

• Joel Taubenblatt, Acting Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Taubenblatt has held several leadership positions in the Bureau, including deputy bureau chief, chief of the competition and infrastructure policy division, and chief of the broadband division. He graduated from Duke University School of Law and from the University of Pennsylvania, with undergraduate degrees in Economics from the Wharton School and in English from the College of Arts and Sciences.
• Trent Harkrader, Acting Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau. Prior to assuming this position, Harkrader advised agency leadership on implementation of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, including its initiatives on broadband adoption and telehealth, while also continuing to serve as deputy bureau chief of the Wireline Bureau. Harkrader has been responsible for numerous Commission broadband policy initiatives since 2011 and has led major reforms of all four of the commission’s universal service programs, spearheaded the agency’s work on the national security supply chain proceeding, and ran the FCC-wide initiative to help fund health care providers offering essential telehealth services to patients. Before joining the Bureau, he was an attorney advisor and division manager in the Enforcement Bureau. He received his Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University and his Bachelor’s Degree from Duke University.
• Erin Boone, Acting Chief of the Media Bureau. Boone serves as acting chief of the Media Bureau and senior counsel to the chairman for issues before the Media and Enforcement Bureaus. She previously served as commissioner Nathan Simington’s chief of staff and wireless adviser. Prior to that role, she served as deputy division chief in the Wireless Bureau’s Competition and Infrastructure Policy Division. Erin also served in the Enforcement and Wireline Bureaus, and worked at T-Mobile, Clearwire, and Level 3 Communications before her time at the FCC. She earned her law degree from the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas.
• Debra Jordan, Acting Chief of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. Prior to assuming the role of bureau chief, Jordan was deputy chief of the Bureau, where she led emergency preparedness and response efforts and represented the FCC at various interagency committees and task forces related to cybersecurity, supply chain risk management, national security, and continuity. Before joining the FCC in 2015, she served as a civilian within the Department of Defense, managing a variety of critical information and communications systems. Jordan, a native of Hawaii, has received multiple Navy Superior and Meritorious Civilian Service Awards.
• Jacob Lewis, Acting General Counsel. Lewis serves as acting general counsel after previously serving as associate general counsel. He joined the FCC in May 2003 after 15 years on the appellate staff of the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he became an appellate litigation counsel. Before that, Lewis was in private practice as an associate in the Washington office of O’Melveny & Myers. He received his bachelor’s cegree, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1978, and his law degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1981. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Milton Pollack in Manhattan.
• Patrick Webre, Acting Chief of the Enforcement Bureau. Webre serves as acting chief of the Enforcement Bureau. During his career, he has served in several other leadership roles at the Commission, including as deputy bureau chief of the Space Bureau, deputy chief of the International Bureau, bureau chief, associate bureau chief and chief programs officer in the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, legal adviser to the chief of the Media Bureau and an attorney in the Wireless Bureau. Before rejoining the commission in 2017, he worked at Jenner & Block in Washington. Webre has also practiced law in Louisiana, where he earned a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University and a law degree from Tulane University Law School.
• Eduard Bartholme, Acting Chief of the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau. Bartholome previously served as senior outreach director on the Broadband Data Task Force, coordinating external engagement with consumers, governmental entities and filers. He joined the Task Force from the Bureau he now leads, where he was previously deputy bureau chief. He joined the FCC in 2019 to lead its education and outreach efforts along with the consumer complaints and inquiries division. Prior to joining the FCC, Bartholome spent 10 years as the executive director and CEO of Call for Action.
• Mark Stephens, Managing Director. Stephens serves as the FCC’s managing director with oversight of the agency’s budget and financial programs, human resources, contracts, purchasing, communications, computer services, physical space, security and distribution of official FCC documents. Before becoming managing director, he served as chief financial officer in the Office of Managing Director. He has also served as a special adviser for Universal Service Fund Oversight and as a senior audit manager and systems accountant in the Wireline Bureau, among other roles and responsibilities. Prior to joining the FCC in 1991, Stephens worked as an auditor with Grant Thornton LLP, and served in the United States Navy. He holds a master’s degree in telecommunications from the George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Loyola College.