Acting Federal Communications Commission (Commission or FCC) Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has announced a slew of new appointments. P. Michele Ellison has been named Acting General Counsel and Joel Taubenblatt will be Acting Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Ellison previously served as the Deputy General Counsel of the Commission, a position she held for the majority of her 25-year tenure at the FCC. Joel Taubenblatt was previously the Deputy Bureau Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, holding this position for one-third of his 25 years at the Commission.
Rosenworcel also announced several staff appointments and special designations to the Office of the Chairwoman. Travis Litman, who previously served as Rosenworcel’s Chief of Staff and Senior Legal Advisor, will be Acting Chief of Staff, and Kate Black, a policy advisor to Rosenworcel since 2017, will be Acting Chief Policy Advisor. A previous legal advisor to Rosenworcel on wireless and international issues, Umair Javed has been named Chief Counsel, and D’wana Terry will be Acting Special Advisor to the Chairwoman and Acting Director of the Office of Workplace Diversity. Terry was previously associate bureau chief of the Wireless Competition Bureau. Sanford Williams will be Acting Special Advisor to the Chairwoman and Director in the Office of Business Communications Opportunities, and Trent Harkrader will be Acting Special Advisor to the Chairwoman and Deputy Bureau Chief in the Wireless Competition Bureau. Holly Saurer, David Strickland, Ramesh Nagarajan, and Ethan Lucarelli have been named to legal advisor positions. Aurelle Porter will serve as Acting Staff Assistant and Andi Roane has been appointed to the Acting Confidential Assistant position.
