With NTIA Dir. Nancy Victory set to step down from her post at th...

With NTIA Dir. Nancy Victory set to step down from her post at the agency today (Fri.), former Deputy Dir. Michael Gallagher still appears to be a frontrunner to eventually fill her position on a permanent basis, several sources said. Who will step in as acting dir. following her exit wasn’t immediately clear Thurs., although one possibility was Fredrick Wentland, assoc. administrator-spectrum management at the agency. He has been acting deputy dir. since Gallagher stepped down from the number 2 slot at NTIA in May. Another possibility to fill in as dir. on an acting basis was seen as Chief Counsel Kathy Smith. Victory announced her plans to depart from the agency last month after nearly 2 years at NTIA’s helm. Several industry sources said Gallagher doesn’t appear to be the only candidate in the running for the job, but he’s seen as being a clear favorite, with strong support within the Commerce Dept. and elsewhere in the Bush Administration. Other names that have been mentioned in the past month as possible replacements for Victory have included House Commerce Committee Senior Counsel Howard Waltzman. Upon leaving NTIA in May, Gallagher became new deputy chief of staff for policy and counselor to Commerce Secy. Donald Evans. Before joining NTIA, Gallagher had been vp-state public policy at Verizon Wireless and earlier, an aide to then-Rep. Rick White (R-Wash.).