Policymakers

Lewandowski: Priebus 'ultimately responsible' for White House leaks

Former President Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski blamed Reince Priebus for leaks from the White House, saying he was "ultimately responsible" in a "Fox & Friends" interview. "If Reince couldn't control those leaks and those leaks continued to permeate, then he was the one who was ultimately responsible, and Gen. [John] Kelly was brought in to make sure those leaks do not continue," Lewandowski said when asked why Priebus was fired as White House chief of staff.

Anthony Scaramucci removed as White House communications director

President Donald Trump removed Anthony Scaramucci from his role as White House communications director just days after the New York financier was named to the job — a move made at the request of new White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly. Scaramucci's brief tenure in the role had been marked by turmoil as he feuded publicly with then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Scaramucci's arrival at the White House prompted press secretary Sean Spicer to resign in protest. The abrupt decision signals that Kelly is moving quickly to assert control over the West Wing, which has been characterized by interpersonal disputes and power struggles during President Trump's six months in office. The retired Marine general, who was sworn in July 31, was brought into the White House in the hope that he will bring military-style discipline to Trump's staff. He has been fully empowered by the president to make significant changes to the organization, White House officials and outside advisers said.

Public Knowledge Welcomes New Development Manager to Bolster Advocacy Efforts

Public Knowledge welcomes Katie Watson, Development Manager, to our team to support our telecommunications, copyright and internet policy advocacy efforts by leading fundraising initiatives and events. Prior to joining Public Knowledge, Watson was a Google Public Policy Fellow at New America’s Open Technology Institute and a Policy and Program Manager at Next Century Cities, where she assisted both urban and rural mayors with local broadband, digital inclusion, and civic technology initiatives. She received her B.A. from the University of Virginia, where she majored in both Foreign Affairs and Media Studies with a concentration in Media Policy and Ethics.
[Katie was previously an intern with the Benton Foundation].

An Interview with Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler

A Q&A with former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

Asked, "Do you think it will be Congress that eventually decides how the internet is regulated, and the fate of net neutrality principles?" Wheeler responded, "The question is what does Congress do? There is a law on the books right now. So if Congress is going to renege on that, or walk back the safeguards that are in existence and that have been in existence since 2015 then that’s the wrong thing to do. And it seems to me that the people who are championing doing this are the big ISPs–Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, and Charter–and they’re Republican supporters and are not the people who have historically stood for a fast, fair, and open internet."

Asked, "[FCC Chairman Ajit] Pai likes to say that ISP spending on infrastructure has been chilled by the Open Internet order. Is that a true assessment of what’s happened?" Wheeler responded, "First of all, that assertion is balderdash. That so-called study is highly suspect because it was done by somebody who has never liked the open internet rules, has always taken the position of the ISPs, and during my tenure was exposed for having selectively chosen information to make that same point. So let’s go to what the ISPs tell their financial regulator. You know there’s an important thing that the ISPs have a lobbying message at the FCC and the Congress that is designed to accomplish their goals of giving them free rein. But then over at the Federal Trade Commission they are under the penalty of law required to tell the truth. How does what they say in their financial filings differ from what they say at the FCC? Well, in their financial filings they say they are spending a constant amount–they say they are spending about 15% of revenue on infrastructure investment. Two days ago, Comcast had their quarterly report and reaffirmed they are spending 15% of revenue on building infrastructure. So if this is the best thing the Trump FCC can come up with, the impact on infrastructure argument, then they are playing a pretty weak hand."

Brendan Carr Omitted Critical Facts in His Testimony to Congress: He Worked for AT&T, Verizon, Et Al.

[Commentary] In his written testimony to Congress, Brendan Carr, who has been nominated to be the third Republican Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, omitted the most important fact: He worked for AT&T, Verizon, Centurylink, as well as the CTIA, the wireless association, and the USTA, the telephone association. Moreover, much of this work has direct ties to his current work with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai (a former Verizon attorney). Together they have amassed a string of corporate-monopoly friendly, harmful consumer regulations that have passed or are percolating.

In the end, Carr and Pai clearly show that they are still working for the industry, not the public interest. On top of this, there are even holes in Carr’s work timeline, as told by his own LinkedIn bio. His resume shows he clerked for a judge in the 2008-2009 timeframe, while his bio shows him also working from 2005-2012 for Wiley Rein and the telecommunications companies and their associations. All of this should be a deal breaker. The Senate should not confirm Brendan Carr’s nomination as FCC Commissioner.

[Bruce Kushnick is the executive director of New Networks Institute]

Rep John Delaney (D-MD): Why I’m running for president

[Commentary] The American people are far greater than the sum of our political parties. It is time for us to rise above our broken politics and renew the spirit that enabled us to achieve the seemingly impossible. This is why I am running for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.

Our government is hamstrung by excessive partisanship. We are letting critical opportunities to improve the country pass us by. And we are not even talking about the most important thing: the future. The victims of this leadership failure are the good people we are sworn to serve, and we are leaving our country ill-prepared for dramatic changes ahead. The current administration is making us less prosperous and less secure. I’m running because I have an original approach to governing and economic policy that can put us on a different course.

Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Unload About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon

On July 26, I received a phone call from Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director. He wasn’t happy. Earlier in the night, I’d tweeted, citing a “senior White House official,” that Scaramucci was having dinner at the White House with President Trump, the First Lady, Sean Hannity, and the former Fox News executive Bill Shine. It was an interesting group, and raised some questions. Was Trump getting strategic advice from Hannity? Was he considering hiring Shine? But Scaramucci had his own question—for me. “Who leaked that to you?” he asked. I said I couldn’t give him that information. He responded by threatening to fire the entire White House communications staff. “What I’m going to do is, I will eliminate everyone in the comms team and we’ll start over,” he said. I laughed, not sure if he really believed that such a threat would convince a journalist to reveal a source. He continued to press me and complain about the staff he’s inherited in his new job. “I ask these guys not to leak anything and they can’t help themselves,” he said. “You’re an American citizen, this is a major catastrophe for the American country. So I’m asking you as an American patriot to give me a sense of who leaked it.” In Scaramucci’s view, the fact that word of the dinner had reached a reporter was evidence that his rivals in the West Wing, particularly Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, were plotting against him.

Senate panel to vote on FCC nominees on August 2

On August 2, the Commerce Committee will hold confirmation votes for three nominees to the Federal Communications Commission. panel will vote on former Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr, a Republican. And Ajit Pai, the current Republican FCC chairman, will be considered for another five-year term. The committee will also be voting on the confirmation of David Redl, a GOP Hill staffer who President Trump nominated to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

New FCC Nominations Wrinkle

The Senate Commerce Committee has a vote on Federal Communications Commission nominations planned for Aug. 2 that will include two Republicans (FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and General Counsel Brendan Carr) and one Democrat (former Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel).

Also on deck: National Telecommunications and Information Administrator nominee David Redl. But Democrats may want a GOP commitment to set up smooth confirmation for the next Democratic FCC opening, whenever current-FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn departs. In multiple scenarios - such as not giving Carr the second full term he’s been nominated for or only confirming Carr and Rosenworcel now - "Commissioner Clyburn's replacement could be paired with Carr or Pai," a Democratic aide said, adding that Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) want to confirm Pai, Carr and Rosenworcel together. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) confirmed interest in securing GOP commitment on the next Democratic commissioner confirmation, although he said he's heard nothing from Commissioner Clyburn on when she may leave. "I want to just make sure that there's a guarantee, you know, that the next Democrat is in, so we have to work out some kind of formula to guarantee that is a part of whatever" nominations plans are made, said Sen. Markey. Chairman Thune said there's "been no formal engagement" with him yet.

USDS Official Departs

Haley Van Dyck, the longtime Obama administration official who helped launch the US Digital Service in 2014, has left that office, OMB confirms. Van Dyck, who once held the formal title of deputy USDS administrator, had quietly stayed on to guide the agency through the start of the Trump presidency. "Haley's passion for improving digital services for the American people has been second to none," said Matt Cutts, the former Google engineer-turned-acting USDS administrator. "Haley had a specific goal of assisting USDS through the administration transition and left when she felt that was completed to the best of her abilities. Although the USDS team is sad to see her go, we're excited to see what's around the corner for Haley and wish her the best."

This is not okay

[Commentary] When President Donald Trump attacked Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a tweet July 25 for not aggressively investigating Hillary Clinton, most attention focused, understandably, on the implications for Sessions. Yet even more alarming than the president’s assault on his own attorney general is President Trump’s return to the “lock her up” theme of his 2016 campaign.

Members of Congress who are, properly, investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 race have not questioned President Trump’s legitimacy. Hillary Clinton herself graciously conceded. The FBI thoroughly investigated her e-mail practices and found no basis to prosecute. Yet President Trump now attacks Sessions for taking “a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes,” implying that a politically inspired re-investigation might help the attorney general keep his job. It is disgusting. What’s at stake is much more than the careers of any particular attorney general or special counsel. The United States has been a role model for the world, and a source of pride for Americans, because it has strived to implement the law fairly. When he attacks that process and seeks revenge on his opponents, President Trump betrays bedrock American values. It’s crucial that other political leaders say so.

Sean Spicer Resigns as White House Press Secretary, Denouncing Chaos in West Wing

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, resigned after denouncing chaos in the West Wing and telling President Donald Trump he vehemently disagreed with the appointment of the New York financier Anthony Scaramucci as communications director.

After offering Scaramucci the communications job, President Trump asked Spicer to stay on as press secretary. But Spicer told President Trump that he believed the appointment of Scaramucci was a major mistake and said he was resigning, according to a person with direct knowledge of the exchange. In one of his first official acts, Mr. Scaracmucci, who founded the global investment firm SkyBridge Capital and is a Fox News contributor, joined Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Spicer’s chief deputy, in the White House briefing room and announced that she would succeed Spicer as press secretary. The resignation is a serious blow to the embattled White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, the former Republican Party chairman who brought Spicer into the West Wing despite skepticism from President Trump, who initially questioned his loyalty. Scaramucci described his relationship with Priebus as brotherly where they “rough each other up.” He called Priebus a “good friend.” Senior officials, including Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Spicer’s top deputy, were said to be stunned by the sudden shuffle.

FTC Acting Chairman Ohlhausen Selects D. Bruce Hoffman as Acting Director of the Agency’s Bureau of Competition

Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen announced that she has selected D. Bruce Hoffman, a partner at the law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP, to be the Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, effective August 7, 2017. Hoffman is Global Co-Head of Shearman & Sterling’s Antitrust Group, focusing on antitrust and unfair competition, including merger reviews, government investigations, and private and government antitrust litigation. Previously, he led the global competition practice at Hunton & Williams, representing clients in the supermarket, funeral, and music industries, among others. Hoffman earned a B.A. from Penn State University and a J.D. from the University of Florida, College of Law. He served on the Florida Law Review and was the recipient of the W.D. McDonald Prize for graduating first in his law school class.

Acting FTC Chairman Ohlhausen Appoints Neil Chilson as Acting Chief Technologist

Acting Federal Trade Commission Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen has appointed Neil Alan Chilson as the agency’s acting Chief Technologist. Chilson will be primarily responsible for advising Acting Chairman Ohlhausen and the Commission on technology matters, including the FTC’s use of technology, technical aspects of law enforcement actions, and technology policy recommendations. His portfolio will also include managing the FTC’s effort to better understand informational harms.

Chilson was previously an Attorney Advisor in the Acting Chairman’s office, serving as the Chairman’s principal advisor on technology, privacy, and data security matters. Previously, he was an attorney at the law firm of Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, where he handled a wide variety of telecommunications and privacy matters. He received his law degree from the George Washington University Law School, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Harding University.

Consumer Technology Association Calls for Swift Confirmation of FCC Nominees

In advance of July 19's Federal Communications Commission nominations hearing in the Senate Commerce Committee, the Consumer Technology Association was calling for a swift vote for confirmation. And the nominees are: Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel for a return engagement, FCC general counsel Brendan Carr for the open Republican seat, and FCC chairman Ajit Pai—he is being renominated given that his term expired at the end of June. Currently the FCC is down to three commissioners, effectively the minimum to get anything done.

Delivering Better Services to the US People

[Commentary] I am excited to embark on the most rewarding work of my career at The United States Digital Service. The USDS is a startup at The White House, using design and technology to deliver better services to the American people. My first project will be helping to untangle, simplify and successfully deliver an improved user experience for veterans on Vets.gov.

“The Vets.gov team is creating a single place for veterans to discover, apply for, track, and manage their benefits online. We are designing with users every step of the way, collaborating with dedicated civil servants, and building the most heavily used and needed services first. As functionality expands and traffic grows, we aim to deliver the best digital experience possible to those who have served our country."

[Randall Weidburg previously worked at Groupon]

NATOA Announces Recipients of 2017 Community Broadband Awards for Outstanding Broadband Endeavors

The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) Board of Directors announced the recipients of NATOA’s 2017 Community Broadband Awards. Since 2007, NATOA has been recognizing exceptional leaders and innovative programs that champion community interests in broadband deployment and adoption in local communities nationwide. Recipients will receive their awards at NATOA’s 37th Annual Conference, to be held in Seattle (WA) from September 11 – 14 at the Grand Hyatt Seattle.

The 2017 Community Broadband Award recipients are:
Community Broadband Hero of the Year: Danna MacKenzie, Executive Director, State of Minnesota Office of Broadband Development
Community Broadband Project of the Year: Longmont Power & Communications, Longmont, CO
Community Broadband Strategic Plan of the Year: Seattle, WA “Strategic Plan for Facilitating Equitable Access to Wireless Broadband”
Community Broadband Digital Equity Project of the Year: Seattle, WA “Technology Matching Fund”
Community Broadband Innovative Partnership of the Year: Garrett County, MD & Declaration Networks Group, Inc.

Outgoing Ethics Chief: US Is ‘Close to a Laughingstock’

Actions by President Trump and his administration have created a historic ethics crisis, the departing head of the Office of Government Ethics said. He called for major changes in federal law to expand the power and reach of the oversight office and combat the threat. Walter M. Shaub Jr., who is resigning as the federal government’s top ethics watchdog on July 18, said the Trump administration had flouted or directly challenged long-accepted norms in a way that threatened to undermine the United States’ ethical standards, which have been admired around the world.

“It’s hard for the United States to pursue international anticorruption and ethics initiatives when we’re not even keeping our own side of the street clean. It affects our credibility,” Shaub said in a two-hour interview this past weekend — a weekend Mr. Trump let the world know he was spending at a family-owned golf club that was being paid to host the U.S. Women’s Open tournament. “I think we are pretty close to a laughingstock at this point.” Shaub called for nearly a dozen legal changes to strengthen the federal ethics system: changes that, in many cases, he had not considered necessary before Mr. Trump’s election. Every other president since the 1970s, Republican or Democrat, worked closely with the ethics office, he said.

Rep Khanna starts PAC-free caucus

Rep Ro Khanna (D-CA) is starting a new caucus for members who have sworn off contributions from political action committees (PACs) or lobbyists.

The caucus, called the NO PAC Caucus, is “designed to encourage members of Congress to voluntarily not accept PAC money and to push for legislation that ultimately bans PAC money from Congress,” Rep Khanna said. The caucus has just two other members so far — Reps. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) and Jared Polis (D-CO) — but Rep Khanna is recruiting Republicans and Democrats, including Reps. Phil Roe (R-TN), Francis Rooney (R-FL) and John Sarbanes (D-MD), to give the caucus bipartisan bona fides. Both President Donald Trump and Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) campaigned on reducing the influence of special interests in Washington, Rep Khanna noted. “I think this is bipartisan,” he said.

House Democrats accuse GOP of trying to 'shield' FCC's network neutrality repeal from oversight

Top House Commerce Committee Democrats rebuked their GOP colleagues for failing to hold any oversight hearings of the Federal Communications Commission amid the FCC's efforts to strike network neutrality regulations.

Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) and Rep Mike Doyle (D-PA), the top Democrat on the technology subcommittee, suggested in a letter that House Republicans are trying to “shield the FCC from having to explain its push to install such unpopular policies,” like the repeal of net neutrality rules. “This Committee has an obligation to perform oversight on behalf of the American people and ensure that the American people understand the consequences of the FCC’s actions,” they wrote in the letter to full Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).

Ajit Pai: the man who could destroy the open internet

Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has a reputation as a nice guy who remembers co-workers’ birthdays and their children’s names. After he was targeted by trolls on Twitter, he took it in good humor, participating in a video where he read and responded to “mean tweets”. This is the man who could destroy the open internet.

Chairman Pai argues that if the US introduced strong net neutrality protections, authoritarian states would have an excuse to clamp down on online freedoms – in spite of the fact that authoritarian states don’t need an excuse to do so. He also says that legislation should only be applied if there’s a market failure. However, as Pai has said, “nothing is broken” and the rules were established on “hypothetical harms and hysterical prophecies of doom”.

Chairman Pai Announces Pelkey As Press Secretary

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that he has appointed Tina Pelkey as Press Secretary for the Chairman. Pelkey will report to the director of the FCC’s Office of Media Relations. Pelkey most recently served as senior vice president at Black Rock Group, focusing on strategic communications and public affairs. She previously worked in Brussels, Belgium, for Weber Shandwick, a global public relations firm. Prior to that, she worked at DCI Group and served as national press secretary for Senator John Cornyn of Texas. Pelkey is a native of Lenexa (KS) and a graduate of the University of Kansas with degrees in journalism and political science.

Regulatory Capture of the FCC: Stacking the Deck with the New Proposed Republican Commissioner

[Commentary] Like some contrived, rigged Russian voting block, the new proposed Republican Commissioner for the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, has been selected to make sure that the current direction set by Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Michael O’Reilly will always end up in a vote that almost always benefits the phone and cable companies over the public interest.

[W]e need a Republican that is going to stand up for Republican values of ‘less government’, states’ rights and competition because it was a Republican-based Congress in 1996, under President Bill Clinton, that voted to bring the Telecom Act into existence, to open the monopoly “ILEC” phone networks so that customers could choose their own ISP, cable, phone broadband providers. In short, Brendan Carr should not be appointed and some Republican who will work for the public and wants a free market and competition, and doesn’t believe in government corporate financial assistance, should be made commissioner instead.

[Bruce Kushnick is the executive director of New Networks Institute]

President Trump Has Secretive Teams to Roll Back Regulations, Led by Hires With Deep Industry Ties

President Donald Trump entered office pledging to cut red tape, and within weeks, he ordered his administration to assemble teams to aggressively scale back government regulations. But the effort — a signature theme in Trump’s populist campaign for the White House — is being conducted in large part out of public view and often by political appointees with deep industry ties and potential conflicts.

Most government agencies have declined to disclose information about their deregulation teams. But ProPublica and The New York Times identified 71 appointees, including 28 with potential conflicts, through interviews, public records and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Some appointees are reviewing rules their previous employers sought to weaken or kill, and at least two may be positioned to profit if certain regulations are undone. The appointees include lawyers who have represented businesses in cases against government regulators, staff members of political dark money groups, employees of industry-funded organizations opposed to environmental rules and at least three people who were registered to lobby the agencies they now work for.