The Senate Commerce Committee will heat up the griddle and dish up some questions for FCC Chairman nominee Tom Wheeler next week, as announced by Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV).
The session will be held Tuesday 6/18/13 at 2:30 PM eastern.
Wheeler will fill the seat emptied by the departure of ex-Chairman Julius Genachowski.
There is also an empty Republican seat to fill, that left by Robert McDowell. However, there will be no other candidate making an appearance at the 6/18 session.
RBR-TVBR observation: We’re a little surprised that they haven’t figured out who to nominate for McDowell’s seat, partly because it’s easier for the polarized politicians of today’s Congress to confirm a Democratic and a Republican in tandem.
If this hearing follows the normal pattern, Wheeler will be grilled, but not voted on. That will happen at a second session, and if the Committee gives him thumbs up, its on to the full Senate for final confirmation – as long as one lonely senator with a gripe about any topic under the sun doesn’t put a hold on the nomination as a bargaining chip.
So we don’t know when Wheeler will be confirmed, but we at least the confirmation process is started.
