Mignon Clyburn Takes Charge At FCC

Mignon Clyburn

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn became Acting Chair — and the first women to run the regulatory agency — on Saturday taking the job just vacated by Julius Genachowski until the Senate confirms President Obama’s choice to replace him, Tom Wheeler.

“I see myself as a member of a relay team, running one of the middle legs,” Clyburn told FCC staffers Monday.  “My job is to build on forward momentum, give the next teammate a running start, an improved position, and no matter what, my goal is not to drop the baton.”

It could take months before she can pass that baton to Wheeler, according to deadline.com. The Senate likely will confirm him in tandem with a Republican to replace former Commissioner Robert McDowell who also left the FCC on Friday.

Last week the U.S. Office of Government ethics disclosed that Wheeler — a former lobbyist who’s now an investor with Core Capital partners — said that if confirmed he would divest holdings in 78 companies including AMC Networks, Apple, Cablevision, CBS, Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network, Gannett, Google, Liberty Media, News Corp, Scripps Networks, Time Warner, Time Warner Cable, and Disney.

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