> It doesn't seem like Obama is willing to actually fight for what he said he wants by leaning on those three of five. His record certainly indicates that he wo

> It doesn't seem like Obama is willing to actually fight for what he said he wants by leaning on those three of five. His record certainly indicates that he won't. How exactly is he supposed to "lean on" those 3 commissioners? It's not clear to me that he can unilaterally fire any of them, which means removing them would likely involve congress, which is basically asking the impossible these days. > Wheeler says "I am an independent agency" when there are several other people involved in the decision making. Implies total power, or at least distended ego. FCC doesn't act at the direction of the president, and that the commissioners make decisions independently, hence the term "independent agency." And this is by design, to prevent political pressure from the executive affecting rule making by a regulatory body. Edit: There may be one thing he can do - make another commissioner the chairperson. Never been done, but probably legal.