We're still waiting on President Biden's pick for FCC inspector general

President Biden has yet to announce his pick for inspector general for the Federal Communications Commission. That position, which is meant to audit FCC spending and investigate potential fraud and abuse, is set to assume new significance, with billions of dollars in pandemic relief and infrastructure cash now flowing into the agency. March 23 marked four years since the enactment of a bipartisan law leaving it to the White House to nominate an FCC inspector general (IG), a bid to change a decades-old process whereby the FCC chair simply appointed the watchdog internally. But there still hasn’t been a Senate-confirmed FCCIG. Greg Walden, the former Republican head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wants the Biden administration to act. “It was never about any particular person — it was about a process we thought could be made better,” Walden said, adding that the position is particularly important now, “when you look at how much money is going to get washed through” the FCC. Longtime FCC staffer David Hunt has served as the agency’s IG for the last decade. Liz Hempowicz, the public policy director at the Project on Government Oversight, said it’s not uncommon to see White House inaction on these positions. But installing a Senate-confirmed FCC watchdog would bring “a certain level of gravitas,” she said: “The Senate, particularly, views those inspectors general as a little bit more independent, a little bit more accountable to Congress, a little bit more of a partner.”