Biden reportedly ready to nominate 2 FCC commissioners as open seats threaten GOP takeover

(Image credit: Jonathan Newton-Pool/Getty Images)

published 26 October 2021

President Biden will nominate acting Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel as the first woman to lead the agency on a permanent basis, and also choose net neutrality advocate Gigi Sohn for an open seat on the commission, Politico and The New York Times report. The nominations could be announced as early as Tuesday. The FCC is currently deadlocked, with two Republican commissioners and two Democrats.

Rosenworcel, a commissioner since 2011, has been handling the deadlocked commission by focusing on politically noncontroversial initiatives, like fighting robocalls and weatherproofing wireless networks, the Times reports. A 3-2 Democratic majority would allow the commission to restore net neutrality rules enacted under former President Barack Obama and rolled back under former President Donald Trump, among other broadband policies important to the Biden administration.

But Biden has taken an unusually long time to nominate his FCC picks, and the clock is running out. Rosenworcel's term lapsed in 2020, and unless the Senate confirms her and Sohn to five year terms by the end of December, Politico notes, she's out and "Republicans are poised to gain a 2-1 majority on the commission come January." Senate confirmation is a "process plagued by delays and political gamesmanship," the Times adds, and Republicans have no incentives to make it easy.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.