What’s next for FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn after the Commission? She finally confirmed months-long rumors last week, that she plans to leave the agency before the May 10 meeting.
That’s months before she had to go. Clyburn’s second five-year term ended on June 30, 2017, but under federal law, she could have remained at the Commission until her successor is sworn in, or until the 115th Congress ends in January 2019.
Of the current group of five Commissioners, Clyburn has been at the agency the longest. Former President Obama initially appointed Clyburn in April 2009 to serve the unexpired term of Jonathan Adelstein when he left the agency for a post in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. After Chairman Julius Genachowski left in May 2013, Obama designated Clyburn as the FCC’s Acting Chairwoman. She held that position until Tom Wheeler was appointed Chairman in October 2013.
Mignon Clyburn’s father is U.S. House Representative Jim Clyburn (D-SC), who’s now 78 years old. She’s been long rumored to be interested in running for her father’s seat, but has been coy about answering queries about that, only saying she was focused on her current agency duties. When she announced her resignation on Tuesday, Clyburn said she doesn’t have her path “all laid out” but intends to remain in public service. While receiving a standing ovation in the FCC’s public meeting room, it was evident her colleagues were surprised; Clyburn also mentioned she hadn’t even told her parents she was making her resignation announcement that day.
Prior to coming to the agency, Clyburn was a member of the South Carolina Public Service Commission. Before that, she was publisher, editor and general manager of the Charleston, SC-based The Coastal Times, a weekly newspaper aimed at African-Americans.
April 23, 2018
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