NTIA/RUS/FCC Leaders Need To Be Confirmed ASAP

So we've got a few more major pieces of the broadband stimulus puzzle in place, namely nominees to head up NTIA (Larry Strickling) and RUS (Jonathan Adelstein) to go alongside the FCC's new chairman (Julius Genachowski).

But there's a very large fly in this ointment: none of them are yet confirmed.

Under normal circumstances this might not be a big deal, but at this moment it's incredibly important that they're able to take power sooner rather than later. The reason for this is that the NTIA and RUS in particular are deep in the middle of their rule-making, which will set out the who and what of how broadband stimulus grants will be awarded.

The problem is that there's a chance our new leaders won't be confirmed until after this process concludes, which would mean that they'd be saddled with rules they don't necessarily agree with. And while it's my understanding that these rules can be tweaked somewhat over time, in large part whatever crystallizes and comes out of this rule making will frame who gets what moving forward.

I for one would not want to be stuck administering someone else's rules, and it's especially crucial we don't allow this to happen now as then we'll miss the opportunity for these new leaders to put their respective stamps on these organizations, to make sure that we don't just accept business as usual but instead pursue new outside-of-the-box ideas.

And yet at various times some have suggested that we might not see these confirmations finalized for weeks if not months. Though on the flipside I've also heard that once we come out of this spring recess that things could move quickly.

So I implore the federal government to not drag its feet but instead recognize that these are extraordinary times that require extraordinary leadership.

President Obama has already taken the first big step of nominating extraordinary leaders, so let's now move with all due haste to get them confirmed and in place before these rules are finalized.