Q:

Why is there reluctance to appoint new members to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)?

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has five seats. Two of them are currently vacant, leaving only three members, and I recall that there were also two vacant seats under the Obama administration (chaired by Tom Wheeler). Additionally, Chairman Ajit Pai's term expired nearly a year ago in June 2016, but FCC rules allow staying on until the next session of Congress should no replacement be found.
Why is there such reluctance to appoint new members to the FCC, both in the Trump and Obama administrations? Three new members could be appointed, and there could still be a partisan majority if that is important to the current administration. Plus, terms are for five years, so filling thethe nomination process has also been slowed by the unusual degree of scrutiny the White House is giving job candidates. Prospective nominees for senior posts and even some of the more junior ones must win approval from competing camps inside the White House, according to close Trump associates and Republican lobbyists.

As to why there's two vacancies, Democrats were unable to get their nominee confirmed before Obama left office and Trump withdrew her from consideration

Rosenworcel, a Democrat, left the FCC at the end of last year after her tenure expired. President Barack Obama renominated her just weeks before he left office. The apparent expectation was that once Trump took office, he would pair her nomination with a Republican choice and they would jointly go through the confirmation process.
But Trump’s