Multiple industry officials told us they expect current White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Legislative Affairs Director Narda Jones to soon be named FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s chief of staff, and for her to be joined on staff by Priscilla Argeris, who left Rosenworcel’s staff in 2015 to eventually join then-Facebook. The announcements are expected soon, possibly at the start of April. Longtime Rosenworcel staffer Travis Litman has been her acting chief of staff since she became chairwoman. Jones worked for 10 years in the FCC’s Wireline and International bureaus before joining the staff of Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., in 2014 and eventually serving as senior technology policy adviser and counsel for the Democratic members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Transportation and Science. Jones joined the White House in 2021. Numerous industry officials agreed that, in the words of one, Jones as chief of staff would “make a lot of sense,” and they pointed to the fact that both she and Rosenworcel worked for Senate Commerce. Argeris was a senior legal adviser to Rosenworcel when the chairwoman was still a commissioner. In a 2015 news release announcing her departure, Rosenworcel called Argeris “a trusted advisor who has been by my side since the very earliest days in my office” and a “fantastic public servant, policy whiz, and eagle-eyed lawyer.” Jones, Argeris, the White House and the FCC didn’t comment.

Senate Democratic leaders are actively eyeing whether enough of its caucus will be in town to potentially conduct initial votes later this week on FCC nominee Gigi Sohn or FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya, Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told us in interviews Tuesday. Senate Commerce voted 14-14 earlier this month on Bedoya and Sohn, meaning the full chamber would need to hold votes to discharge both nominees from committee jurisdiction before lawmakers could move forward on their confirmations.

Utah could be the fourth state with a comprehensive privacy law. The Senate voted 25-0 Thursday to concur with House amendments to SB-227.

Democratic FCC nominee Gigi Sohn struck back against what she deems “unrelenting, unfair, and outright false criticism and scrutiny” in written testimony we obtained ahead of a Wednesday appearance before the Senate Commerce Committee widely seen as a follow-up confirmation hearing. The panel, which began at 10 a.m., is expected to largely focus on Sohn’s role as a board member for Locast operator Sports Fans Coalition and her January commitment to temporarily recuse herself from some FCC proceedings involving retransmission consent and broadcast copyright matters.

The Senate Commerce Committee plans to hold a second hearing with Democratic FCC nominee Gigi Sohn Feb. 9, Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., confirmed to us Wednesday. The hearing will focus on “whatever questions people have” about the nominee, including her commitment to temporarily recuse herself from some FCC proceedings involving retransmission consent and broadcast copyright matters, Cantwell said. The panel delayed a planned Wednesday vote on Sohn and FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya after news circulated that Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., was recovering from a stroke and wouldn’t be available to give the nominees unified Democratic support.

The Senate Commerce Committee will “probably” postpone planned Wednesday votes on Democratic FCC nominee Gigi Sohn and FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya amid expectations that Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., would be unable to appear at the meeting after having a stroke, Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told reporters Tuesday afternoon. Lujan’s expected vote in favor of Sohn would be crucial to ensure Sohn receives the 14 Democratic votes needed to reach a Senate Commerce tie given expectations that no Republicans will back her, lobbyists said.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel changed the leadership of several FCC bureaus Monday. She had until Monday retained numerous department heads from the administration of previous FCC Chair Ajit Pai.

California’s net neutrality law survived an appeal by ISP associations at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The 9th Circuit panel agreed with the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, which last February denied a preliminary injunction against California’s 2018 law. ACA Connects, CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom last March appealed in case 21-15430.

Democratic FCC nominee Gigi Sohn told the agency Thursday she will, if confirmed, recuse herself during the first three years of her term “from any proceeding before the Commission where retransmission consent or television broadcast copyright is a material issue.” Sohn’s pledge appears to be the result of negotiations with Senate Commerce Committee leaders aimed at securing support from all 14 Democrats ahead of a planned Feb. 2 panel vote to advance her nomination to the full chamber, lobbyists told us. Some panel Republicans had been pressing for concessions from Sohn over ethics concerns about her role as a board member for Locast operator Sports Fans Coalition.

FCC commissioners voted out two wireless items scheduled for Thursday, before the meeting. The more controversial of the two, on notification requirements for white spaces devices, provoked a fight between NAB and Microsoft. Microsoft asked the FCC to scale back the notification requirements for white spaces devices in the draft. The company urged the FCC to “maintain its existing requirement that narrowband fixed WSDs be required to check the white space database once a day to ensure capturing wireless microphone reservations rather than the proposed 24 times a day.” NAB, long concerned about interference in the white spaces, asked the FCC to stick with the draft proposal. Commissioners added a short NPRM to the item, which explores Microsoft’s request, FCC officials said Wednesday. Commissioners also OK’d a draft NPRM seeking comment on whether to adopt four new or updated standards for equipment authorization and the certification of the telecommunication certification bodies that review new RF devices.