Reply #9: Nominee to Give F.C.C. Republican Majority

[Judi Lynn]

Nominee to Give F.C.C. Republican Majority
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 4, 2006

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (AP) — President Bush has chosen a telecommunications lawyer and lobbyist, Robert M. McDowell, to take an open seat at the Federal Communications Commission, a move that would restore the agency's 3-to-2 Republican majority.
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The Senate would have to confirm the nomination.

The appointment of Mr. McDowell will give the agency chairman, Kevin J. Martin, his first Republican majority on the commission since he was elevated to the post in March. Since then, the normally five-member commission has been evenly split 2-to-2, although it was briefly operating with only three members in December — when Mr. Martin was outnumbered by the two Democrats. The Democratic majority ended last month when Deborah Taylor Tate, a Republican, was sworn in.

The absence of a Republican majority proved troublesome for Mr. Martin last summer when the Republicans and Democrats on the panel could not agree on how to begin the process of considering media ownership rules. The issue was shelved minutes before it was to be discussed at a monthly F.C.C. meeting.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/04/business/04fcc.html