Where are President Biden’s telecommunications picks?

President Biden has been historically slow to appoint officials to the federal government’s top telecommunications agencies, and advocacy groups say the vacancies are preventing the administration from carrying out key agenda items, such as reinstating net neutrality rules killed during the Trump administration. Nearly eight months into his presidency, Biden has yet to pick permanent leaders for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which together oversee and set policy for the broadcast and Internet service industries. The vacancies are likely to hamper the agencies as they prepare to disburse funding aimed at boosting Internet connectivity nationwide, which is expected to come from the bipartisan infrastructure package making its way through Congress; they could also bog down initiatives to make broadband more affordable and expand subsidies at a time when the pandemic has exposed the US's connectivity gaps. The NTIA is expected to play a major role in disbursing the $65 billion in new broadband funding included in the infrastructure bill. This makes the lack of a permanent NTIA chief particularly impactful given that much of the agency’s work involves coordinating with other parts of the federal government, including the FCC and the Department of Agriculture, all of which play a role in broadband initiatives.