Senate Confirms Carr, Starks to FCC; Droegemeier to OSTP
The Senate confirmed Democratic FCC nominee Geoffrey Starks and Commissioner Brendan Carr to a second full term Wednesday night via unanimous consent. The chamber also confirmed Kelvin Droegemeier as White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director. A breakthrough on a string of confirmations followed hours of negotiations Wednesday night between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a Senate source said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
Confirmation of Carr and Starks followed months of behind-the-scenes negotiations and the end of holds on Carr placed by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. Senate leaders had long insisted on advancing Carr and Starks as a pair. Their confirmation chances were boosted shortly before the start of Christmas recess when Manchin and Sullivan lifted their holds, though prospects were seen as remote as recently as Wednesday afternoon.
Starks will succeed former Commissioner Mignon Clyburn for a term ending in 2022. Carr's additional five-year term ends in 2023. The Senate in 2017 confirmed Carr to an abbreviated term that ended last year.