Policymakers

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai maintains that the Trump administration hasn’t sought to exert its will over the decision-making of the commission, an independent agency not subject to executive command. “Not the case,” Chairman Pai told the House Appropriators Committee during a hearing. That’s apparently despite President Donald Trump occasionally reaching out to the agency chief, as he did in 2019 on a coming C-band airwaves auction.

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) Board announced that Edward Parkinson has been named Executive Director of the organization.

Amid the mad dash to develop fifth-generation (5G) wireless technologies, Shirley Bloomfield likes to remind people that vast swaths of America have other hurdles to clear first. “As everybody gets super excited about 5G ... we just tell them in rural America we’re still waiting for 1G in some areas,” said the CEO of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association.

Earl Comstock, a senior Commerce Department official who helped lead the Trump administration's efforts to impose export restrictions on China's Huawei is resigning effective March 6, apparently. Comstock, who has served for three years as director of Policy and Strategic Planning at the department, often clashed with other administration officials on a range of issues. 

A Q&A with Robert Blair, senior advisor to the White House Chief of Staff. His new challenge: help further Trump’s global aims on 5G, including an ongoing campaign to prevent America’s allies from relying on Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. “One of the messages that I want to bring to people is: Take a breath,” Blair says. “The Chinese are not winning this race.”

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announces the appointment of members to serve on three working groups of the Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE). These working groups—Access to Capital, Digital Empowerment and Inclusion, and Diversity in the Tech Sector—will assist the ACDDE in carrying out its work. The current members of these working groups are identified in the Appendix to this Notice. As previously announced, Chairman Pai designated Anna M.

The White House rolled out its fiscal year 2021 funding requests, including a proposed 71 percent bump in congressional spending on the Justice Department’s antitrust division — an increase that is another indicator that the agency is serious about its pending investigations into tech giants like Google and Facebook. (It would also allow the agency to hire 87 additional staffers.) In contrast, the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission aren’t requesting any big changes in their funding or staffing.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced his intent to appoint Margaret Wiener as Associate Chief of the Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA), Evan Kwerel as Senior Economic Advisor to the OEA Chief, and Jonathan Campbell as Chief of OEA’s Auctions Division. Wiener, Kwerel, and Campbell served previously as Chief of the Auctions Division, Senior Economic Advisor in the Economic Analysis Division, and Acting Special Counsel in OEA, respectively.

Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division announced the appointment of Alexander Okuliar to serve as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General. He will be responsible for civil merger and conduct investigations and litigation. Alex’s 20-year career has taken him through tours at both federal antitrust agencies and the private sector.

The Federal Communications Commission released an eleven-page list of accomplishments under 3 years of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's leadership, with the following categories: