A group of  public interest, civil liberties, and other entities have written to President Biden urging him to fill out the membership of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by nominating a fifth Commissioner. In the letter, the over 50 signatories wrote “to convey the rapidly growing urgency to nominate a fifth commissioner to ensure a fully functional” agency.

Among those signing onto the letter were the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Democracy & Technology, Common Cause, the Communications Workers of America, Consumer Reports, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Press Action, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Public Citizen, and Public Knowledge.

Among other things the letter noted: “Given the legislative calendar and the diminishing number of days for hearings and confirmation votes, we have reached a critical point to guarantee the agency charged with ensuring affordable communications access can do its work during your administration. Failing to nominate a fifth commissioner leaves the FCC less than fully operational and limits its capacity to most effectively” deal with a number of issues.

A copy of the letter can be found here (https://s3.amazonaws.com/demandprogress/letters/Letter-5th-FCC-Commissioner.pdf)