President Joe Biden’s decision to simultaneously announce his intended pick Monday of former NTIA acting Administrator Anna Gomez to the long-vacant fifth FCC seat and his renomination of sitting Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, as expected (see 2305180067 and 2305220020), is likely to speed Senate confirmation for all three candidates, said congressional officials and communications policy observers in interviews. There’s not a hard timeline for Senate consideration of the trio, but a Commerce Committee confirmation hearing is likely sometime in June and some stakeholders said they will push the chamber to approve all three before the start of the August recess.
The League of United Latin American Citizens has shifted away from an executive’s past backing of former acting NTIA Administrator Anna Gomez to be President Joe Biden’s nominee to fill the FCC seat former Chairman Ajit Pai vacated in 2021 and instead endorsed retired T-Mobile Vice President-Legal Affairs Chris Luna for the role. Many communications sector stakeholders believe Gomez is the prohibitive favorite to be the next nominee (see 2305020001).
Former FCC nominee Gigi Sohn told reporters Wednesday she’s ready for her next act in the communications policy space, after her withdrawal from contention for the vacant commission slot almost two months ago (see 2303070082). Sohn confirmed during and after an appearance at a Broadband Communities event in Houston that she will sign on in June as the American Association for Public Broadband’s first executive director. The House Commerce Oversight Subcommittee, meanwhile, plans a May 10 hearing on the government’s administration of $65 billion in broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other federal programs.
The White House appears very close to announcing its nominee for the vacant third Democratic FCC seat, with former acting NTIA Administrator Anna Gomez, ex-Wiley, the prohibitive favorite to get the nod, congressional officials and communications policy lobbyists said in interviews. Gomez, if nominated, would be President Joe Biden's second pick for the seat former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai vacated in early 2021. Previous candidate Gigi Sohn asked Biden in March to withdraw her name after her often-contentious Senate confirmation process repeatedly stalled (see 2303070082). Biden formally withdrew Sohn’s nomination March 30 (see 2303300048).
The White House is eyeing former acting NTIA Administrator Anna Gomez, ex-Wiley, and to a slightly lesser extent NASA Chief of Staff Susie Perez Quinn as the most viable potential candidates to replace ex-nominee Gigi Sohn as President Joe Biden’s pick fill the long-vacant third Democratic FCC seat, lobbyists and others said in interviews. Officials cautioned that the Biden administration is also looking at other potential candidates and several remained viable Tuesday, including Narda Jones, chief of staff to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
T-Mobile is turning up the heat on the FCC to issue licenses bought in last year’s 2.5 GHz auction, linking the failure to do so to the agency’s focus on closing the digital divide. Neville Ray, T-Mobile president-technology, argued for issuing the licenses in a Thursday blog. Lawyers active in the proceeding said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel continues to believe the FCC doesn’t have the authority to issue the licenses after expiration of its auction authority, though the Office of General Counsel is studying the issue.
President Joe Biden formally withdrew Gigi Sohn’s FCC nomination Thursday, the White House said, more than three weeks after Sohn announced she had asked Biden to remove her from Senate consideration amid perceptions a handful of Democrats would join chamber Republicans to stall her confirmation process for a third consecutive year (see 2303070082). Several names of potential candidates to replace Sohn have circulated since she first announced her exit, including: former acting NTIA Administrator Anna Gomez, ex-Wiley; Narda Jones, chief of staff to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel; NASA Chief of Staff Susie Perez Quinn; FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Alejandro Roark; National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts Chairman Felix Sanchez; and Treasury Department Capital Projects Fund Director Joseph Wender. Lawmakers are hoping Biden soon renominates incumbent Commissioner Geoffrey Starks to ensure the FCC at least maintains its current 2-2 partisan tie (see 2303100050). Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, noted in a recorded video for Free State Foundation's Tuesday conference that he will continue to ensure "our agencies are led by fair and impartial regulators, rather than by partisan idealogues with a penchant for censoring conservative speech," a reference to his criticism of Sohn's views on conservative media outlets (see 2302140077).
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., and 31 other caucus members urged President Joe Biden Wednesday to nominate “a qualified Latino” to the vacant fifth FCC seat after Gigi Sohn’s recent withdrawal from consideration as nominee (see 2303070082). CHC members didn’t mention any preferred candidates, despite communications sector lobbyists’ chatter that former acting NTIA Administrator Anna Gomez, ex-Wiley, and National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts President Felix Sanchez were under consideration for an endorsement (see 2303130001). CHC member and Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-Calif., told us he plans to recommend some potential contenders to the White House amid thus-far unfulfilled hopes the Biden administration will pivot quickly to name a candidate to replace Sohn.
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are considering recommending former acting NTIA Administrator Anna Gomez, ex-Wiley, or National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts President Felix Sanchez to replace Gigi Sohn as FCC nominee but haven’t finalized those picks yet (see 2303130001), communications sector lobbyists clarified Tuesday. A Lujan spokesperson denied he had endorsed any potential contenders. “While we’re very engaged to ensure” there’s a full five-member commission “and a swift confirmation for the eventual nominee, but at this point he hasn’t recommended any specific candidate or candidates,” Lujan’s spokesperson said Tuesday. A CHC spokesperson also denied the group had endorsed any candidates for the FCC vacancy.
Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are considering recommending either former acting NTIA Administrator Anna Gomez, ex-Wiley, or National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts President Felix Sanchez to replace Gigi Sohn as FCC nominee but haven't finalized those picks yet, communications sector lobbyists told us. Several lawmakers have been readying endorsements for the FCC vacancy amid chatter about potential contenders. Lujan and others are calling for President Joe Biden to quickly renominate Commissioner Geoffrey Starks for a new term (see 2303100050).