Nathan Simington, a Republican, is currently a Senior Advisor in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration specializing in network and telecommunications policy. If confirmed, Simington would take Commissioner Michael O’Rielly’s seat.
The radio friendly O’Rielly has been on the Commission since 2013 and it looked like he was on his way to another term. The Trump team turned sour on O’Rielly after he gave a speech in July where he expressed doubts about targeting social media for their content curation. He said he First Amendment’s protections apply to corporate entities, especially when they engage in editorial decision making.
The White House withdrew O’Rielly’s nomination on Aug. 3.
This is bad news for radio. This guy doesn’t own a radio and has never listened. He’s going on the FCC to be an ideologue who will attack social media and radio. He and Pai will not get along.