The Federal Communications Commission is losing one of its two Democrats in the coming weeks. Mignon Clyburn (@MClyburnFCC) was appointed by President Obama in 2009, and she has been on the losing side of a number of battles in recent months at the Republican-controlled agency, including the FCC’s dismantling of net neutrality rules that Clyburn helped to craft.

“It’s disturbing,” she tells Here & Now‘s Mina Kim. “It took us years, and we used this inclusive, painstaking process in order to achieve the balance that looked out and took into account consumers’ needs. And to see all of that being put at risk, it’s painful. It was unnecessary.” Interview Highlights On her decision to leave the FCC “Why now? Because I think the time is right for me. I’ve spent nearly nine years at the FCC. I’ve seen a lot of great policy decisions. I’ve been a part of enabling broadband connectivity all over this country, bringing awareness to those who are on the wrong side of the opportunities and technology and economic divide. And how a connected America … what that could mean for them. I have done all that I know how to do to bring a voice, to bring awareness to consumers’ needs. And so I concluded that my effectiveness would be more so realized on the outside as opposed to staying at the commission.”