(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday is expected to name Jessica Rosenworcel, the acting leader of the Federal Communications Commission, to become its chair, according to a person briefed on the matter.
Biden also is expected to nominate Gigi Sohn, a former FCC official, to serve as a commissioner and give Democratic appointees a majority at the agency for the first time in his term, the person said.
The appointments would break a partisan split on the commission and clear the way for the agency to fulfill Democratic priorities such as restoring net neutrality rules that bar unfair practices by broadband providers. Other issues primed for possible action include bolstering broadband subsidies and making mobile broadband networks more reliable.
Rosenworcel, 50, has advocated for spreading broadband service to more people, and has supported net neutrality rules and limits on broadcast ownership. She would be the first woman to have a regular term as chair; earlier, a woman served as acting chair. She has a law degree from New York University and an economics degree from Wesleyan University.
She has been a commissioner since 2012 with an interruption between terms in 2017.
Sohn is a critic of media consolidation and an advocate of broadband regulation. She is a distinguished fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy. Earlier, she served as counsel to a Democratic FCC chairman.
Sohn has called for making broadband more accessible and affordable, and for restoring net neutrality rules that were gutted by a Republican-led FCC during the administration of President Donald Trump. Sohn opposed T-Mobile US Inc.’s purchase of Sprint Corp., and before that AT&T Inc.’s failed bid for T-Mobile.
The FCC, with five members at full strength, has been at a 2-to-2 partisan deadlock since the previous chairman, Ajit Pai, a Republican, left in January. Biden named Rosenworcel acting chairwoman as he arrived in office.
Since then Biden’s choice for chair has been a matter of robust speculation, with Rosenworcel long considered a top contender. In September, 24 Democratic senators, and an independent who caucuses with them, called on Biden to select Rosenworcel, saying in a letter “there is no better qualified or more competent person.” Signers included Senator Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat whose support is pivotal for large spending bills that may define Biden’s presidency.
Commissioners are subject to Senate confirmation and serve staggered terms. No more than three can be members of the president’s party.
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