The Senate Commerce Committee today sent President Biden’s nomination of consumer advocate Gigi Sohn for a spot on the Federal Communications Commission to the full Senate. Sohn’s nomination was advanced with a 14-14 tie vote due to Republican opposition and still needs approval on the Senate floor.
The FCC has been stuck with a 2-2 partisan deadlock for Biden’s entire term, but Sohn’s confirmation would allow Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to proceed with items opposed by Republicans. That includes the restoration of net neutrality rules and Title II common-carrier regulation of broadband providers.
The tie vote in committee makes the process of setting up a final Senate vote more complicated, but it can be accomplished if all Democrats back Sohn, a Broadcasting + Cable report explained. There were also tie votes in two other nominations advanced today by the Senate Commerce Committee. Those were for Federal Trade Commission nominee Alvaro Bedoya and Consumer Product Safety Commission nominee Mary Boyle.
“We’ve waited over a year for a fully functional FTC and FCC,” Free Press Action VP of Policy and General Counsel Matt Wood said today. “We can’t let cynical political maneuvers from obstructionist lawmakers and industry-aligned hacks further delay Bedoya and Sohn’s ability to serve people everywhere.”
Advocates urge quick Senate vote
Wood said that with Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) “having successfully navigated this tricky process, it’s time for Majority Leader [Chuck] Schumer and the Senate to confirm these highly qualified nominees and let them get to work as soon as possible.”
Public Knowledge CEO Chris Lewis said, “Based on their extensive qualifications and the bipartisan outpouring of support outside of Congress, we would have hoped these nominees would receive overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate. Unfortunately, the politics of our time made that unachievable. Regardless, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer should move expeditiously to get these nominees through the process for final confirmation.”
Biden nominated Sohn on October 26. She was previously scheduled for a Commerce Committee vote in early February, but it was delayed after Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) suffered a stroke. Luján returned to the Senate today.
Sohn may need votes from every Democrat in the 50-50 Senate to be approved. Commerce Committee member Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) hadn’t previously said whether she would back Sohn, and Comcast hired a prominent lobbyist in Arizona to work on “FCC nominations,” but Sinema voted for Sohn today in the party-line decision. In the full Senate, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) may be a key swing vote.
Before today’s committee vote, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said that Sohn is “not the right choice to fill this vacancy at the FCC.” He cited her previous position as a board member at Locast, a nonprofit online TV service that shut down after losing a copyright case launched by major broadcast networks. Wicker said a settlement between Locast and networks “will continue to cause an appearance of conflict of interests if she is confirmed.”
We detailed the Locast debate in this article. Details on other reasons for opposition to Sohn cited by Republicans are in our previous articles.
https://arstechnica.com/?p=1837963