President Barack Obama sent the renomination of Jessica Rosenworcel to the Senate, for its new session that began Tuesday. Her last day as an FCC member was also Tuesday. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., whose committee would need to OK Rosenworcel before the full Senate could vote on her reappointment, had signaled her imminent return to the agency was unlikely.

Chairman Tom Wheeler is leaving the FCC on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, he confirmed Thursday morning before the commissioners' meeting. That would leave the commission with one Democratic member, Mignon Clyburn, who earlier this week told us that she will stay during her term, and two Republicans, Mike O'Rielly and Ajit Pai. That is assuming that Jessica Rosenworcel is not reconfirmed; she is not expected to be.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., beat out opponents and will chair the House Commerce Committee next Congress. The current head of the Communications Subcommittee, though junior in seniority in the leadership derby to succeed outgoing full committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., won his quest to get the nod from a group of GOP leaders over the more-senior Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill.

A federal court sided with AT&T in overturning an FCC VoIP symmetry ruling that had allowed local competitors to collect higher switching charges for routing over-the-top long-distance calls to local phone customers. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously reversed the commission's February 2015 ruling that CLECs in partnership with over-the-top VoIP providers were providing the "functional equivalent" of end-office switching and thus could collect associated access charges, instead of the lower charges associated with tandem switching.

The FCC on Wednesday deleted all four major agenda items from Thursday's commissioner meeting. Those items were an order and Further NPRM on business data services, an order on a mobile fund Phase II, an NPRM on mobile roaming obligations and the regulatory classification of Voice over LTE, and a video description order. Also deleted was an Enforcement Bureau consent agenda item. All the items remain on circulation, said a commission notice. A Freedom of Information Act item from the general counsel apparently remains on the agenda.

Republicans may run the table on telecom policy over the coming years after emerging triumphant in Tuesday’s elections, scoring an unexpectedly strong showing that will yield control of the White House under GOP President-elect Donald Trump and a GOP majority in the Senate. And Trump already has his eyes on telecom. The Associated Press declared Trump the victor around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton privately conceded in a call to Trump. Some congressional races are still too close to call. The House, as expected, retained its Republican majority.

Less than a week since AT&T announced its $108.7 billion purchase of Time Warner, Congress scheduled its first oversight hearing on the deal. The Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee will hold an AT&T/Time Warner oversight hearing at 2 p.m. Dec. 7, a Republican aide told us Wednesday. Subcommittee leaders announced the desire to hold a hearing before the weekend was over, seen as especially rare speed during a recess period, Communications Daily reported Monday (see here).

Opposition to and criticism of AT&T's buying Time Warner have begun, including from some influential Democrats and Republicans, among them GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump on the campaign trail. That was even before any deal was announced. Confirmation came from the companies around 8 p.m. EDT Saturday, saying the transaction is worth $108.7 billion.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler circulated a business data service draft order Thursday to take "overdue steps to reform a long-broken regulatory regime" for BDS, the commission said Friday. "The Order strikes a balance between targeted regulation for legacy TDM (DS1 and DS3) services, where evidence of market power is strongest, and lighter-touch regulation of packet-based services, where there has been new entry and competition may be emerging," said an agency fact sheet. Communications Daily had reported that such an order was going to circulate Thursday, which would allow it to be possibly added to the agenda for the Oct. 27 meeting.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler shifted gears on ISP privacy, refocusing proposed rules on protecting only “sensitive” information, he confirmed in a blog post Thursday. The change was expected, and along the lines of what we had reported this week. Under his proposal, circulated for an Oct. 27 commissioner vote, ISPs would have to obtain opt-in consent before using or sharing sensitive information. The agency also issued a fact sheet.