Cruz Supports FCC 'Pencils Down' During Trump Transition

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz of Texas pressed FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel Thursday night to stand down from working on controversial matters during the transition from President Joe Biden to President-elect Donald Trump, as expected. Cruz's “pencils down” request to Rosenworcel followed a similar Wednesday call from House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, the favorite to lead the agency when Trump takes office in January, backed a similar pencils-down measure Thursday.

“The results of the 2024 presidential election are apparent and the American people have spoken definitively for a new administration,” which means the FCC's leadership “will soon change,” Cruz said in a letter to Rosenworcel we obtained this morning. “I request the FCC and all of its bureaus and offices immediately stop work on any partisan or controversial matters under consideration or in progress and focus only on matters that are uncontroversial or require action under the law. This course will follow the norms set during past transfers of power.”

“Any controversial FCC action taken up or continued after November 5th will receive particular scrutiny,” Cruz said. “I note that you have previously advocated this position by welcoming calls from congressional leaders for the FCC to” stop work on controversial items after Biden won against Trump in the 2020 presidential election and urged then-Chairman Ajit Pai “‘to follow this past practice in order to ensure an orderly transition…’ I ask that you respect this time-honored tradition now.”