Policymakers

From his first public controversy in the 1970s, when the federal government sued Trump and his father over discriminatory rental practices in their New York real estate empire, to the opening salvo in his 2016 presidential campaign, when he said that Mexicans entering the United States were criminals and “rapists,” President Donald Trump has regularly fanned the flames of racial controversies. What do his comments reveal about his personal attitude toward the nation’s wrenching history of racial discord? Are Trump’s racially divisive remarks just another example of his impulsivity and propensity to be provocative, or do they represent an abiding tolerance of racist views? Some say Trump’s eagerness to speak up for at least some of the people who took part in the alt-right demonstrations in Charlottesville must be viewed as a reflection of his attitude on race.

I asked Steve Bannon about the connection between his program of economic nationalism and the ugly white nationalism epitomized by the racist violence in Charlottesville and Trump’s reluctance to condemn it. Bannon, after all, was the architect of the strategy of using Breitbart to heat up white nationalism and then rely on the radical right as Trump’s base. He dismissed the far right as irrelevant and sidestepped his own role in cultivating it: “Ethno-nationalism—it's losers. It's a fringe element. I think the media plays it up too much, and we gotta help crush it, you know, uh, help crush it more.” “These guys are a collection of clowns,” he added. “The Democrats,” he said, “the longer they talk about identity politics, I got ’em. I want them to talk about racism every day. If the left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats.”

Do you think Congress needs to be more tech savvy? Then bring your digital knowledge to Washington with a congressional innovation fellowship. The program gives technologists the opportunity to shape federal tech policy through a year-long position in the office of a lawmaker or congressional committee. Applications for the third class of fellows were released on Aug 16. The program bridges the gap between the public and tech sectors by bringing technological expertise to the Hill and instilling technology companies with a better understanding of government. While other groups like the U.S. Digital Service and 18F aim to reduce the executive branch tech deficit, the congressional innovation fellowship focuses specifically on the legislative branch.

President Donald Trump’s relationship with the American business community suffered a major setback Aug 16 as the president was forced to shut down his major business advisory councils after corporate leaders repudiated his comments on the violence in Charlottesville (VA) this weekend. President Trump announced the disbanding of the two councils — the Strategy & Policy Forum and the Manufacturing Council, which hosted many of the top corporate leaders in America — amid a growing uproar by chief executives furious over President Trump's decision to equate the actions of white supremacists and protesters in remarks he made Aug 15. But those groups had already decided to dissolve on their own earlier in the day, apparently.

Earlier Aug 16, the chief executives of Campbell Soup and the conglomerate 3M resigned from the manufacturing council. “Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville,” Campbell Soup chief executive Denise Morrison said. “I believe the president should have been — and still needs to be — unambiguous on that point.”

The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration still lacks official leadership in the Trump administration, following Senate difficulties to advance even a committee vote earlier in August on NTIA administrator-nominee David Redl. But NTIA is still chugging along with career staff dating to the Obama administration, such as NTIA chief of staff Glenn Reynolds and spectrum management associate administrator Paige Atkins. Both attended a NTIA-convened spectrum meeting in Colorado.

Reynolds referred to Redl's absence as "the elephant in the room" and assured meeting participants that their work would be "used and emphasized and studied by both the career staff and by the political leadership that we fully expect to get on board in the near future." He also lamented what he judged as tight budget constraints and "difficult decisions" on prioritizing. NTIA staffers are, in the meantime, looking to telecom-savvy administration officials such as the National Economic Council's Grace Koh and Office of Science and Technology Policy's Kelsey Guyselman: "We're working with them to keep the trains moving until we have our new political leadership on board," Reynolds said. Reminder: Redl, Guyselman and Koh all worked together recently as GOP telecom staffers for House E&C.

Longtime aide to President Donald Trump Hope Hicks will take over the role as interim director of communications while the West Wing looks for someone to fill the position permanently.

News of Hicks's appointment comes just over two weeks after the firing of Anthony Scaramucci, who spent a mere 10 days as Trump's communications director. “Hope Hicks will work with White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and all of the communications team and serve as the Interim White House Communications Director. We will make an announcement on a permanent communications director at the appropriate time,” a White House official said. Hicks, the president's director of strategic communications, worked for the Trump Organization before the president entered the 2016 Republican primary, and she served as a spokesperson during the presidential campaign. Scaramucci, a former hedge fund manager, was pushed out on July 31, the same day then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly took over as White House chief of staff.

[Commentary] Commissioner Carr of the Federal Communications Commission should lead the drive to bring the FCC into the 21st century by adopting necessary and recognized reforms. Fortunately there is already a blueprint on the shelf created some 20 years ago by Democratic Chair Bill Kennard which proposed mirroring the Federal Trade Commission’s structure with greater focus on competition, consumer protection and economics. This common-sense plan is a natural part of the evolution of a telecom regulator, which by design should support the transition the market from monopoly to competition, not invent new things to regulate in an attempt to be relevant.

Over the years, the FCC has created tasks and functions for itself that are duplicative, if in not in conflict with many other government agencies.Reversing this trend won’t be easy, but reorienting the FCC’s mission around economics is a good first step that will help grow the economy, create jobs, and spur innovation. Carr should take the lead to modernize the agency.

[Roslyn Layton is a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Internet, Communications and Technology Policy at the American Enterprise Institute.]

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that Jennifer Tatel will serve as the agency’s Acting General Counsel. Since 2011, Tatel has worked in the Office of General Counsel, most recently as chief of staff and deputy general counsel. Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel, Tatel served as legal advisor to Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker, advising the Commissioner on media and consumer protection issues. She began her FCC career as chief of the Media Bureau’s Industry Analysis Division. Tatel received a JD from The George Washington University Law School, an MS from Columbia University, and a BS from the University of Illinois.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr announced the appointment of four individuals that will serve in his office in acting capacities:

Nirali Patel, Acting Legal Advisor for Media, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement. Patel will advise Commissioner Carr on media, consumer protection, and enforcement matters. Patel is on detail from the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau, where she serves as a Deputy Chief of the Competition Policy Division. Before joining the Commission, Patel served as Counsel in the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications practice of Hogan Lovells US LLP. Prior to that, she practiced communications law at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Sidley Austin LLP. Patel graduated summa cum laude from the American University Washington College of Law and received her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kevin Holmes, Acting Legal Advisor for Wireless and Public Safety. Holmes will advise Commissioner Carr on wireless and public safety issues. Holmes joins the office from the FCC’s Office of Legislative Affairs, where he worked on spectrum, mobile broadband, and public safety issues. Previously, Holmes worked in the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, both as an interim Legal Advisor in the Office of the Bureau Chief and as an Attorney Advisor in the Broadband Division. Earlier in his career, Holmes was a legislative aide to Senator Spencer Abraham. Holmes holds an LL.M. in Law and Government from the American University Washington College of Law, a J.D. from the DePaul University College of Law, and a B.A. from Kalamazoo College.

Nathan Eagan, Acting Wireline Legal Advisor. Eagan will advise Commissioner Carr on wireline issues. Eagan joins the office from the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau, where he most recently served as a Legal Advisor in the Telecommunications Access Policy Division. He came to the Commission through the agency’s Attorney Honors Program, and he has worked on a variety of issues, including universal service and broadband deployment. Eagan received his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School, where he was a George Washington Scholar and an Articles Editor for the Federal Communications Bar Journal. He received his undergraduate degree from Clark University, in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Natalie Martinez, Acting Confidential Assistant. For the past three years, Martinez has served as the Confidential Assistant to three successive General Counsels of the FCC. Before that, she served as the Confidential Assistant to the Chief of the Enforcement Bureau for four years. She began her career at the FCC in 2001 as an Office Automation Clerk in the International Bureau.

Kenneth C. Frazier, the CEO of Merck, announced on Twitter that he is resigning from President Donald Trump’s American Manufacturing Council in direct response to the president’s failure to denounce the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who rioted in Charlottesville (VA) over the weekend. While he didn’t name President Trump directly, in his statement, Frazier wrote that, “America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal.”