O'Rielly Aide Colwell to Take Over as House Commerce Chief Counsel
Robin Colwell, chief of staff to FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, will take over as House Commerce Committee chief counsel on telecom matters. That role has been filled by David Redl, who the Trump administration nominated to lead NTIA (see 1705160081).…
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Redl “will remain on staff until confirmed,” a committee news release said Friday. Colwell is a former aide to Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and former counsel to the Senate Commerce Committee’s Tourism, Competitiveness and Innovation Subcommittee. Also joining as a senior professional staffer is Timothy Kurth, who advised then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., on tech and telecom issues. House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., issued a joint statement lauding the new hires' “breadth of knowledge on communications policy” poised to help Commerce’s work toward “boosting broadband deployment, Next Generation 911 reauthorization, spectrum allocation and availability, and FCC oversight.” O’Rielly also issued a statement praising Colwell: “While she maintains sound conservative principles, she is able and willing to reach a deal when appropriate.” The committee also lost Deputy Chief Counsel Grace Koh earlier this year, now special assistant to the president for tech, telecom and cybersecurity policy. Kelsey Guyselman, Gene Fullano, Lauren McCarty and Giulia Giannangeli will retain their current committee roles, the committee said Friday. “It never hurts to populate the agencies with your own people,” Walden told reporters earlier this month of the career changes for Redl and Koh, saying "the hard part" is replacing them.