News Clips

Not all of those honored on this list are registered lobbyists. But they are all key players who the nation’s biggest companies, advocacy groups, labor unions and trade associations turn to when they want their voices heard in the nation’s capital. The ranks of policy experts, influencers and advocates run deep in Washington, but these are the people who stand out for delivering results for their clients in the halls of Congress and the administration. ... GRASSROOTS: Karen Hobert Flynn and Aaron Scherb, Common Cause 

Former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said Ms. Rosenworcel is noteworthy for the “unprecedented breadth and depth of experience” she brings to the commission. Ms. Rosenworcel worked for Mr. Copps as a staffer and has extensive experience in Congress, which oversees the independent commission.

Even before Pai joined AEI, his hiring at Searchlight Capital Partners led former FCC Democrat Michael Copps to say, "We have a serious revolving door problem at the FCC. This is not encouraging." Copps "said commissioners tend to be more sympathetic to private equity firms and corporations when they are commissioners if they know that they might also, one day, become their future employers," according to the New York Post.

Craig Aaron, the co-CEO of Free Press Action, said an example of the public advocate model for a commissioner pick would be Michael Copps, who served at the FCC from 2001 to 2011. Copps opposed a 2002 FCC rule where it classified cable modems services as an "information service" and not subject to Title II common carrier regulation. Copps has been a vocal supporter of net neutrality since leaving the agency. Copps is now a board member for Free Press Action and Public Knowledge and is a special adviser to Common Cause’s Media and Democracy Reform Initiative. "When I think about the potential of that seat, it's somebody like Michael Copps—who was there for a decade and really put the 'public' in 'public servant,'" Aaron said, adding that he was "one of the few commissioners to depart and go into the public interest."

Michael Copps, former FCC acting chair himself and currently a special adviser to Common Cause called Rosenworcel an "ideal" choice for the job. "I know, because we worked together when she led my staff while I was a commissioner there. She knows the FCC from the bottom up and she understands how to make good things happen there. She was called from my staff to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, where she was responsible for telecom and media policy. Then she was appointed a commissioner at the FCC and has demonstrated a mastery of the issues that has been seldom matched. Whether it’s bringing broadband to every home in America, encouraging internet availability for our schools, making wise decisions for the utilization of spectrum, contesting telecom and media monopolies, battling mis- and dis- information, she has a combination of vision and practicality that make her perfect for the chairmanship."

“You can’t have net neutrality without Title II,” Yosef Getachew, media and democracy program director at Common Cause, said. To reclassify broadband under Title II, a Democratic-led FCC may reverse an order adopted in October by the GOP-led FCC that affirmed its repeal of the Obama-era net neutrality rules.