O’Rielly Named to FCC in Move That May Speed Senate Vote
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President Barack Obama named Michael O’Rielly, a congressional aide, to a Republican seat on the Federal Communications Commission, setting up a potential Senate vote to approve a new Democratic chairman at the regulatory agency.
O’Rielly, who advises Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, would fill one of two vacant FCC seats, according to a White House announcement released by e-mail. The other seat is for Obama’s choice for FCC chairman, former cable and wireless lobbyist Tom Wheeler, who was named May 1 to succeed Julius Genachowski.