FCC Nominee O’Rielly Favors “Light” Regulation

Michael P. O'Rielly

Michael P. O’Rielly, a Republican Capitol Hill staffer nominated to fill a vacancy on the FCC, told the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday that agency regulations “need to be flexible” and to have “as light hand as possible,” asccording to Variety.

 

There are few doubts that O’Rielly will be confirmed. Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) predicted as much, and it is expected that his nomination will be paired with that of Tom Wheeler, a Democrat, to make both politically palatable to the full Senate.

But Rockefeller took issue with O’Rielly’s approach to regulation, calling O’Rielly’s “light hand” remarks “code words” that ignore the role of regulation in reining in the excesses of unchecked technology.

O’Rielly, who has worked for Congress for 20 years, is currently an adviser to Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the Republican minority whip. He previously was a staffer for Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) and for the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

O’Rielly signaled a willingness to look at revising media ownership rules, an effort that has been sidelined as the agency looks at the impact any changes would have on minorities and women.

Asked about what he would do when it came to indecency complaints, he said he would seek to “enforce the statute,” but he was not specific as to how he would craft a policy that could survive a constitutional challenge from broadcasters.

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