Wheeler Busy Putting Together Team to Lead FCC

If Verveer does come to the FCC it could give Wheeler firepower in a critical post, especially to the extent he tries to reshape in some fundamental ways the relationship between regulators and industry, several industry executives said. For Verveer, like Wheeler, the job would be a “capstone” to his long career rather than a stepping stone, they said. Verveer’s resume includes stints as chief of the FCC’s Cable Television, Broadcast and Common Carrier bureaus and as lead counsel in the mid-1970s at the Justice Department in the antitrust suit against AT&T.

Roger Sherman, aide to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and a former lawyer for Sprint, was mentioned by several officials as possible chief of staff. Several longtime industry executives who worked for Wheeler at CTIA also are widely seen as potential candidates for top jobs at the FCC, including Brian Fontes, a former FCC chief of staff, CTIA executive vice president and current president of the National Emergency Number Association, and Diane Cornell, now vice president at Inmarsat and a former FCC and CTIA official.

The administration’s ethics rules “make it pretty much impossible for anybody in industry or at a law firm to come work for him,” said a former FCC legal adviser. “The bottom line is if you work at a law firm, all of that law firm’s clients are imputed to you whether or not you worked for them.” The ethics rules are the reason most recent eighth-floor advisers come off the Hill or from inside the FCC, the official said. On the other hand, another former official said, “In spite of the strict rule, the Obama administration has granted a number of waivers. I would imagine that if Wheeler wants someone, he'll surely ask for and receive a waiver."

Enlisting top staff for the second term in an administration is also always difficult, and former Chairman Julius Genachowski stayed until late May, giving Wheeler a late start, said a former top eighth-floor adviser. Wheeler is likely to draw from those he knows well, with a mixture of some newer people, the lawyer said. “Every chairman has to have a lot of trust,” the source said. “Here’s one of the realities of the job -- the chairman cannot do a lot of things because there’s only 24 hours in the day, so here’s a lot of things the chairman has to really trust people to do well and that’s no small thing,” the source said. “That element of trust and that element of communications is really, really important so I just think a lot of people [Wheeler picks] are going to be people he’s known before.” The lawyer said Wheeler has likely been putting together a team since it became clear he would be chairman: “The most important decisions in the first month are staff."

"Since he knows everyone in the industry he surely will be calling on previous friends and colleagues,” a wireless industry lobbyist and former Senate staffer said of Wheeler. “He could well have the most seasoned, respected and knowledgeable staff that has been assembled at the FCC in years."

"It’s very seldom that you see a real surprise in who is chosen and even more rare that someone comes in who has very little subject matter expertise,” said David Honig, president of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council. Diversity is important, and as president of NCTA and CTIA, Wheeler “was very good at incorporating diversity into his search and not just automatically assuming that people like him are people who have expertise and judgment,” Honig said.

"I'm not one who favors overly strict ethics restrictions that make it problematical for persons in the private sector to join the government, and vice versa,” said Free State Foundation President Randolph May. “I would rather just presume that most people will act ethically until shown otherwise and not diminish the talent pool. That said, if Tom Wheeler can get people of the caliber of Phil Verveer to serve as top level staffers during his chairmanship, he will be well served and the institution will be well served. Phil would make an excellent general counsel, or, frankly, a good commissioner. And other names mentioned as potential top level staff picks, such as Diane Cornell and Brian Fontes, have a lot of institutional knowledge concerning the way the FCC works, along with substantive communications policy expertise."

New America Foundation Vice President Sascha Meinrath, a critic of the nomination (CD March 26 p1), said he has unsuccessfully tried to meet with Wheeler. “White House officials have repeatedly told me that Wheeler would not meet with me because his nomination was pending -- hopefully, now that Mr. Wheeler is actively meeting with industry they will now reconsider allowing him to also meet with me,” Meinrath said.

"It should surprise no one, based on his historical approach to heading organizations in official Washington, that Tom Wheeler would attempt [to] assemble a stellar, blue-chip team based on experience, policy and political smarts and loyalty,” said Jeff Silva, analyst at Medley Global Advisors. “This is a given, but not the end of the story. The post of chairman poses novel challenges for Wheeler. As Tom himself readily acknowledged during his confirmation hearing, the FCC is a group, not a sole proprietorship. What worked well for him as a chief executive of organizations in the past can help inform his approach to leading the FCC, but that management model cannot simply be overlaid at the commission. With four other commissioners, each with unique personalities, policy persuasions and other characteristics, the dynamics become far more complicated if not capricious at times. Add to that the constant scrutiny of Congress and the 24/7 gaze of the news media.” Given the many demands “it’s really impossible for anyone to be totally prepared for FCC chairman on day one,” Silva added. “There will be a period of trial and error, and I suspect Tom and his staff will need to evolve into a comfortable management scheme. And even then the job will require smart adaptation to changed circumstances.”