Jessica Rosenworcel, the primary girl to function everlasting FCC chair, will depart the company on January 20, the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Rosenworcel’s announcement this morning got here after Trump introduced {that a} fellow commissioner, Republican Brendan Carr, would function FCC chairman within the new administration.
Rosenworcel’s exit will permit Trump to nominate a 3rd commissioner, giving Republicans a 3-2 majority. Her five-year time period on the fee was set to run out on June 30.
Rosenworcel has served on the fee since 2012.
In a press release, Rosenworcel mentioned, “Serving on the Federal Communications Fee has been the distinction of a lifetime, particularly my tenure as Chair and because the first girl in historical past to be confirmed to guide this company. I need to thank President Biden for entrusting me with the accountability to information the FCC throughout a time when communications expertise is part of each facet of civic and business life. Taking the oath of workplace on the road exterior of the company throughout the top of the pandemic, when a lot of our day-to-day moved on-line, made clear how necessary the work of the FCC is and the way important it’s for us to construct a digital future that works for everybody.”
Rosenworcel additionally cited the establishing of “the biggest broadband affordability program in historical past, which included connecting “greater than 23 million households to high-speed web. ” She additionally cited the launch of the first-ever Area Bureau on the company.
Rosenworcel and the company’s two Democrats, Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez, voted earlier this 12 months to reinstate internet neutrality guidelines. An appellate courtroom has stayed the foundations as business teams problem their authorized footing.
