Republican Federal Communications Commission member Nathan Simington will exit his role at the agency at the end of the week.
Simington, who was first confirmed to the regulatory agency during President Donald Trump’s first term in December 2020, called the appointment the “greatest honor of my professional life” and said he remains committed to “advancing the cause of limited government, free speech and American innovation.”
An individual familiar with the matter told TheWrap that Simington was up for reappointment and is choosing to move on professionally.
“Throughout my tenure, I worked to defend free expression, safeguard national security and promote infrastructure investment to benefit all Americans,” his statement continued. “As I turn the page on this chapter, I do so with immense gratitude for the opportunity to serve and for the many colleagues and friends who made this journey so meaningful. I look forward to continuing to serve the public interest in the years ahead and to contributing to the vital conversations surrounding our communications infrastructure, national security and technological leadership.”
In a recent op-ed with the Daily Caller, Simington called for the agency to modernize ownership rules to allow traditional broadcasters “greater flexibility to consolidate and compete” and to reexamine how it classifies and regulates streaming platforms. He also proposed implementing a 30% cap for major networks taking retransmission fees for local broadcasters.
His departure from the five-member body comes as Democrat Geoffrey Starks announced he would formally depart later this month.
Republican Olivia Trusty has also been nominated to the agency, but awaits confirmation by the Senate, leaving Republican FCC chairman Brendan Carr and Democrat Anna Gomez as the two lone remaining members in the interim. The FCC needs at least three active members for a quorum.
“Carr has demonstrated in his first months as Chair, he does not need a majority to do most of what he wants to do. Partly this is due to defining the job differently than past chairs, emphasizing the power of the bully pulpit to cause Congress and others to act more than relying on formal FCC decisions,” New Street Research analyst and former FCC chief of staff Blair Levin wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday. “Further, given his agenda, the bureaus can, under his direction, do many of the things he wants without a full Commission vote. In addition, Carr has used his own power over merger reviews and enforcement actions to accomplish what he wants without a full Commission vote.”
Levin pointed out that one exception is reforming broadcast ownership rules to
“enable broadcast consolidation while adopting an upgraded broadcast standard.”
In a statement, Carr thanked Starks and Simington for their public service. He also outlined the agency’s continued efforts to identify and eliminate regulations that are “effectively dead wood,” including cable television rate regulations.
“I would like to consider an order that gets rid of those obsolete and unworkable rules,” he said. “If adopted, we would remove 77 rules and requirements that have no meaningful application today.”
The FCC will hold its next Open Meeting on June 26.
