White House narrowing field for FCC chairman

When last we checked in on the Federal Communications Commission chairmanship, it seemed that the White House was in no rush to replace Julius Genachowski, the current head of the agency. But now it appears that Chairman Genachowski is eyeing the exits, and administration officials are busily lining up a successor.

The White House has interviewed several candidates whose names have been much discussed by those who closely track these things: venture capitalist Tom Wheeler; assistant Commerce secretary Larry Strickling; and Karen Kornbluh, ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. One under-the-radar candidate they’ve also talked to is former FCC official Cathy Sandoval, now a utilities commissioner in California. But whoever Obama settles on, it’s looking like it will happen sooner rather than later — the game is afoot.