Grassley refutes Rockefeller's hopes for progress on FCC nominees

By Andrew Feinberg - 04/24/12 05:18 PM ET

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) strongly denied suggestions by Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) that any sort of settlement in the impasse over Grassley's hold on Federal Communications Commission nominees Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel in the near future.

Rockefeller said that he was optimistic a resolution to the conflict was near while speaking to reporters after a hearing Tuesday on the future of online video.

Grassley placed a hold on the nominations shortly after they were passed out of the Commerce Committee, and has maintained the hold while repeatedly demanding documents from the FCC over wireless start-up LightSquared. Rockefeller suggested that a new, 13,000-page document dump by the agency, which was sent by the House Energy and Commerce Committee this morning and forwarded to Grassley's office, could resolve the Republican senator's concerns.

While Grassley wouldn't talk to reporters when asked about the matter today, a spokesman said that his office had received the documents and, while they were being reviewed, it remained "unclear whether the documents contain internal, previously unreleased materials related to the FCC's decision-making on LightSquared."

LightSquared has invested billions of dollars in plans to develop a nationwide 4G network, but the FCC moved to block the network in February over concerns that it would interfere with critical GPS devices, including ones used by airplane pilots. The FCC has denied giving any special treatment to LightSquared.

The spokesman also claimed that "[s]o far, of the first 1,174 pages reviewed, 1,171 pages are news clips that are publicly available." Grassley and his staff have also said that previous sets of documents released by the commission contained nothing pertinent to Grassley's concerns.

"Sen. Grassley has asked consistently, beginning with and since his initial request of April 27, 2011, for internal documents that would shed light into why the FCC appeared to give expedited initial approval to LightSquared's wireless project," the spokesman said, while denying allegations that Grassley had "moved the ball" on his demands from the agency.

"He simply wants access to FCC documents so he can determine whether the FCC is performing due diligence before approving major projects involving public resources and affecting consumers," the spokesman said.