Obama nominates Ajit Pai, Jessica Rosenworcel to FCC

President Obama nominated former Federal Communications Commission deputy general counsel Ajit Pai and Senate Commerce Committee senior communications counsel Jessica Rosenworcel on Monday to fill the two vacancies on the Commission left by Republican Meredith Attwell Baker's departure to join Comcast earlier this year and Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps' eventual retirement.

Pai is currently a partner at Jenner & Block and was mentioned as a candidate in 2009 when Baker was appointed. He previously served as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Civil Rights and as senior counsel at the Office of Legal Policy at the Justice Department

Pai began his career as a law clerk to Judge Martin Feldman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and then joined the Justice Department as an Honors Program trial attorney in the Telecommunications Task Force of the Antitrust Division.

He has also served as associate General Counsel at Verizon. Pai holds a B.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from the University of Chicago.

Rosenworcel has worked for Senate Commerce chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) since 2009 and previously worked for Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Ha.) from 2007 to 2008. She served at the FCC as senior legal advisor to Copps from 2003-2007 and as legal counsel to the Wireline Bureau chief from 2002 to 2003.

From 1997 to 1999 Rosenworcel was a communications associate at Drinker Biddle and Reath. She received a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.