White House Has Nominee for FCC

One month after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt announced he would retire early, the White House is preparing to nominate Michael Powell to the five-member agency, sources said. Powell, the 33-year-old son of retired Gen. Colin L. Powell, would assume one of the two Republican vacancies at the FCC and would probably not replace Hundt. The White House, which has authorized a background check of Powell to start the nomination process, had previously agreed to fill the other Republican vacancy with Harold Furchtgott-Roth, a House Commerce Committee staff member, and has nominated FCC general counsel William Earl Kennard for one of the two Democrat slots that will become vacant when Hundt and Commissioner James Quello leave later this year.