The Federal Communications Commission will wind down most of its operations on Thursday if the partial federal government shutdown isn’t resolved by then. Should its lapsed funding not be restored, the commission says “all FCC activities will cease” as of mid-day Thursday, January 4th, “other than those immediately necessary for the protection of life or property, performing other excepted activities, or those funded through a source other than lapsed appropriations.”
The vast majority of the FCC’s employees would be sent home on furlough if this plan is implemented, with under 20 percent continuing to show up for work alongside the commission’s leaders — chairman Ajit Pai and commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel, Michael O’Rielly, and...