Hill Aide Guyselman Expected to Further Bolster Trump Policy Team
The White House is looking for someone to assist Grace Koh, special assistant to the president for technology, telecom and cybersecurity policy, government and industry officials told us. The administration is focused on Kelsey Guyselman, counsel to the House Commerce Committee, they said. The slot is supposed to be an NTIA slot detailed to the White House the same way Tom Power was during the Obama administration, officials said.
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Republican offices on Capitol Hill working on telecom issues “are fertile hunting grounds for the administration when searching for telecom experts, because key congressional staffers don't expect telecom legislation to move” for a while, said a longtime telecom industry lobbyist: “If they want to make things happen, the executive branch offers an opportunity.” The White House and Commerce Committee didn't comment.
There’s deep expertise on the Hill on the Republican aide, said Roslyn Layton, American Enterprise Institute scholar and member of the Trump FCC transition landing team. “They know a lot about the industry and the technology but they also bring the expertise about how to work on the Hill.” The Trump administration has taken a while to fill key spots, she said. “I think they’re thinking meaningfully and substantively about the best way to do things.”
The administration “has been achingly slow to fill out the White House teams that work on science and tech policy,” said Richard Bennett, network architect and free-market blogger. “Hopefully, the ice is finally melting and meaningful action is coming.” Free State Foundation President Randolph May said if Guyselman ends up at the White House, it will show how much the administration values the advice of her boss, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. Koh also worked for Blackburn, May noted. “It’s hard to see how the White House wouldn’t benefit from Kelsey’s communications policy experience in addition to Grace’s,” he said.