Grassley, Rockefeller Staffers Meet Over FCC Nominee Hold

According to a spokesperson for Sen Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), his staffers met with those of Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) Feb. 27 to discuss the senator's hold on two pending nominations, one of which is Jessica Rosenworcel, a top telecom aide to Chairman Rockefeller. The other is Ajit Pai, a communications attorney and former FCC official and Senate staffer. It is the first meeting about the hold since December, a Grassley staffer confirmed. The Grassley spokesperson called the meeting a "development" rather than "progress," and would not further characterize the meeting beyond saying it was about the Federal Communications Commission nominations, the hold and a possible resolution.

"The FCC said it wouldn't give internal documents about LightSquared to any members of Congress except the chairmen of the two committees that oversee the FCC," said Sen Grassley. "Now one of those two committee chairmen [Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), chair of the House Commerce Committee] "is asking for internal documents. It will be hard for the agency to ignore this request. The House committee that's seeking information from the FCC is fulfilling its oversight responsibilities. As a federal agency, like all government agencies, the FCC should account for its actions. The House request is good news for accountability and transparency."