The phrase “hosited upon her own petard” has enjoyed unlikely survival throughout the ages, seemingly for the purpose of being deployed at this precise moment.

Back in 2020 then FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel made a brief but consequential statement to sitting Chairman Ajit Pai: stop work now that Biden is coming into office.

Now, with the tables entirely turned, the now Chairwoman is being hoisted upon that petard as Senator Cruz seemingly delights in citing her to herself in his “pencil’s down” letter from last week:

The letter reads:

“To honor the will of the American people and the policy mandate given to the incoming administration, I request the FCC and all of its bureaus and offices immediately stop work on any partisan or controversial matters under consideration or in progress and focus only on matters that are uncontroversial or require action under the law. This course will follow the norms set during past transfers of power.”

Fine, but the letter continues:

I note that you have previously advocated this position by welcoming calls from congressional leaders for the FCC to “paus[e] any controversial activity” and by urging previous FCC chairmen “to follow this past practice in order to ensure an orderly transition…”1 I ask that you respect this time-honored tradition now. 

I don’t know if Cruz is a smirker, but you can certainly imagine a rye smile creeping across his face as he signed this thing.

Now, will the FCC heed this call and what does it mean for the new TCPA one-to-one rule and revocation rulings?