Chairman Thune Pencils in Vote on FCC's Starks for June 27

As long as Federal Communications Commission nominee Geoffrey Starks is able to supply his post-confirmation hearing paperwork quickly, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) wants to include Starks' nomination on a June 27 markup and then move it on the floor paired with the nomination of current FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr for a second term. "I think the FCC [nominations] should move quickly," said Chairman Thune. Starks enjoyed a drama-free confirmation hearing June 20. The highlight reel, in brief: He endorsed the use of Title II of the Communications Act, historically reserved for common carriers, in the FCC's 2015 net neutrality rules. He also suggested a nationalized 5G network would be a bad idea and defended the "democratizing" rules governing children's broadcast TV programming. He talked about the "race to 5G" and praised the Senate's "outstanding" AIRWAVES spectrum bill, S. 1682. And as Starks said in his written testimony, he has a particular passion for telemedicine.