Sen. Charles Grassley said Thursday he will block the nominations of Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel to the FCC, calling it a "last resort" effort to get more info out of the current FCC about LightSquared.
Following a voice vote by the Senate Commerce Committee to approve those nominations, Grassley released the following statement:
More than seven months ago, I started asking the FCC for information that would shed light on the agency's apparent rush to approve the LightSquared project. The agency has provided none of the information and found excuses not to provide the information. Even the private companies involved, LightSquared and Harbinger Capital, have promised to be more forthcoming than the FCC as a public agency funded by the taxpayers. LightSquared and Harbinger Capital promised to provide me with requested documents on their dealings with the FCC this week. As a last resort to try to exhort more transparency and accountability from the FCC, I'll place a hold on consideration of the agency nominees on the Senate floor. This agency controls a big part of the economy. It conducts the public's business. And the public's business ought to be public.
A single senator can block a nomination. Grassley's pledge followed Republican's move earlier in the day to block the nomination vote of the new chief of the Consumer Financial Consumer financial Protection Bureau.
