FCC Escapes Hill Scrutiny as Pandemic Drags On

One unexpected casualty of the disruptions wrought by the long pandemic: Federal Communications Commission commissioners haven’t testified before Congress in more than a year. It’s a gap that comes at an immensely consequential time for policymakers, as they seek to close the digital divide, and for the FCC itself, as it administers multiple Covid relief programs involving north of $10 billion. Why is the FCC MIA? Logistical challenges around the virus have sometimes meant fewer committee hearings generally (although Congress still managed to secure Senate and House testimony from the FTC in 2021). And lawmakers have generally fixated on bigger legislative vehicles, like the last pandemic relief package, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and Democrats’ massive spending plan. President Joe Biden also hasn’t named his permanent FCC chair, so Democrats may be reluctant to summon FCC officials in the interim.

Lawmakers haven’t had a chance to directly pepper acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel and her fellow commissioners with questions about how the pandemic aid programs and other big-ticket items are going. The FCC is holding a 5G airwaves auction in October, for instance, and is finally opening a subsidy program to help small wireless carriers ditch gear from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. And the agency's critics have raged over its messy rollout of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund subsidy program. Republicans, for their part, have clamored for months to get Chairwoman Rosenworcel in front of their panels this year, saying they have questions on broadband mapping and the aid programs.