January 25, 2005 02:02 PM
Powell to Step Down at F.C.C. After Pushing for Deregulation
Excerpt: Michael K. Powell, who has overseen the Federal Communications Commission during a time of helter-skelter convergence among telephone, television and high-speed Internet services, announced Friday that he would be stepping down from the agency in two months.
Michael K. Powell, who has overseen the Federal Communications Commission during a time of helter-skelter convergence among telephone, television and high-speed Internet services, announced Friday that he would be stepping down from the agency in two months.
Mr. Powell sought to roll back regulation of each of those industries. But on his watch the F.C.C. also enforced stringent decency standards, imposing hefty fines on television and radio broadcasters.
Administration officials and industry executives said that two leading contenders had emerged to succeed Mr. Powell as chairman. One is Kevin J. Martin, a Republican commissioner and former White House official who several times foiled Mr. Powell's attempts to deregulate broadcasters and telephone companies. The other is Becky A. Klein, a senior policy adviser to George W. Bush when he was governor of Texas and a former chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas. She lost a Congressional bid two months ago. Her campaign received a large amount of financial support from executives at telecommunications companies who expected she would be a top contender for the F.C.C. job.
Both Mr. Martin and Ms. Klein have close ties to Mr. Bush and they have track records that are less ideological than Mr. Powell's. Both have taken steps as regulators that at times have angered the large Bell companies and at other times pleased them. Working in Mr. Martin's favor is the fact that he is a sitting commissioner and, as such, could fill the position quickly because he would not need Senate confirmation. Some broadcasters are concerned, however, that Mr. Martin could be even more aggressive than Mr. Powell in enforcing the indecency rules.
The officials and executives said that other candidates being considered to succeed Mr. Powell include Michael D. Gallagher, the top Commerce Department official on telecommunications issues; Pat Wood III, another former Texas regulator who is head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and Janice Obuchowski, a consultant who worked in the Commerce Department during the administration of the first President Bush.
The White House is also expected to soon have a second Republican vacancy on the five-member commission. Kathleen Q. Abernathy, an ally of Mr. Powell, has recently told administration officials that she intends to step down.
Mr. Powell, 41, who became chairman four years ago this week after serving the prior three years as a commissioner, has told friends that he will take time off after he leaves the F.C.C. to consider his next career move. His announcement has long been expected although the way his resignation was initially disclosed - in an editorial on Friday in The Wall Street Journal - was unusual.
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