Starks FCC Confirmation Hearing Date Is Set

Geoffrey Starks

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has scheduled a 10 a.m. hearing June 20 on the nomination of Geoffrey Starks to succeed Democrat Mignon Clyburn on the FCC, according to Multichannel News.

Clyburn left last week after the President signaled he was nominating Starks. Clyburn could have stayed until the end of the year or until Starks was confirmed, but had signaled in April that she was exiting.

Starks has been assistant bureau chief in the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, which is not a typical launching pad for a commission seat, like, say, a Hill communications counsel would be, though the most recent Republican addition, Brendan Carr, came directly from the FCC as well.

Starks has an undergraduate degree from Harvard and a law degree from Yale. He also founded a community bank.

His Obama-era government service includes serving under Attorney General Eric Holder at Justice as the lead on financial and healthcare fraud.