Quick Hits

*** The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission confirmed to FCW on Jan. 31 that Commissioner Victoria Lipnic won't seek renomination when her term expires July 1, 2020. The commission needs three members to constitute a quorum for carrying out its duties overseeing labor disputes and enacting workplace rules. EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws in the workplace.

If Lipnic departs without a new member in place, the commission would be down to two members – the second time without a quorum in two years. Keith Sonderling was nominated in July 2019 to fill another vacancy and Bloomberg Law has reported that there may be a pick to fill the open Democratic seat on the bipartisan commission. Lipnic can also opt to continue on the commission through the end of the current congressional session ending in December, according to agency rules.

*** There's no easy solution to the problem of sharing out a commercially desirable but currently occupied swath of spectrum in the 3450-3550 MHz band, according to a Jan. 27 report from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Incumbent users of the spectrum include Defense Department shipborne radars and nationwide airborne systems. The report suggests further exploration of relocating the airborne systems to other spots on the radio dial, and also researching the possibility of dynamic, time-based sharing mechanisms to protect federal users and systems while letting commercial users exploit the desirable spectrum. The spectrum in question is considered ripe for sharing because it is widely used abroad for commercial services, potentially helping to create a global market for phones and devices designed to operate on those frequencies – which in turn could lead to lower prices for consumers and the faster deployment of services, according to NTIA.