The Partisan FCC

[Commentary] Voting data from the Federal Communications Commission shows that the share of commissioner votes on orders split along party lines is higher in Chairman Tom Wheeler’s commission than under the average of either Republican or Democratic chairmen back to Reed Hundt in 1994. In the past, votes at the FCC tended to be unanimous—under both Democratic and Republican chairs more than half of votes on major orders were unanimous (about 65 percent for Democrats and 58 percent for Republicans). Under Chairman Wheeler that has dropped to 47 percent.

Perhaps more worrisome is the increase in votes that split along party lines. Under Democrats, about eight percent of votes on major orders split along party lines. Under Republicans, only four percent split on party lines. Under Chairman Wheeler, 26 percent of votes on orders have passed with yes votes from the Democratic Chairman, Commissioner Rosenworcel, and Commissioner Clyburn, with Republican Commissioners O’Rielly and Pai dissenting. The difference from the past is stark. This analysis comes with some important caveats to consider. Most importantly, the comparisons are not quite apples-to-apples.