FCC More Partisan Under Wheeler, TPI Analysis Finds

Voting data from the FCC shows commissioners are splitting along party lines under Chairman Tom Wheeler more than at any commission under either Republican or Democratic chairmen back to Reed Hundt in 1994, the Technology Policy Institute said in a blog post. Under previous chairs, both Democratic and Republican, more than half of the votes on major orders were unanimous -- about 65 percent for Democrats and 58 percent for Republicans. Under Chairman Wheeler, that has dropped to 47 percent, TPI said Tuesday. “Perhaps more worrisome is the increase in votes that split along party lines,” TPI said. “Under Democrats, about eight percent of votes on major orders split along party lines. Under Republicans, only four percent split on party lines. Under Chairman Wheeler, 26 percent of votes on orders have passed with yes votes from the Democratic Chairman, Commissioner [Jessica] Rosenworcel, and Commissioner [Mignon] Clyburn, with Republican Commissioners [Mike] O’Rielly and [Ajit] Pai dissenting. The difference from the past is stark.” The post is by TPI Senior Fellow Scott Wallsten, economist to the team that wrote the FCC National Broadband Plan under then-Chairman Julius Genachowski, a Democrat. “Since arriving at the Commission, Chairman Wheeler has tackled complex issues resulting in more competition, strong protections and improved access to networks for consumers," a commission spokeswoman responded Wednesday by email. "During the first two years of Chairman Wheeler's tenure, 88 percent of votes have been unanimous.” Our own research has found similar results to Wallsten's findings (see 1512150030 and 1412310037).