Shutdown Likely to Pare Back FCC’s November Meeting

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr acknowledged that the agency’s momentum could slow in the weeks ahead, saying staff shortages would likely force the FCC to trim its November meeting agenda. “We will try to move ahead with the November meeting, but not with quite as many items as we would ideally like,” Chairman Carr said. “You’ll see a bit more difficulty going forward, but we will try to keep moving forward the most important items with this limited staff. The plan is to continue holding meetings as long as we can.” Despite operating with only about 20 percent of its workforce amid the ongoing government shutdown, the FCC forged ahead on October 28 with an ambitious October meeting agenda, voting to approve nine draft items. Democrat Commissioner Anna Gomez sharply criticized the decision to proceed with a packed agenda under the conditions.