(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden’s bid for a majority-Democrat Federal Communications Commission resumes Wednesday, as nominee Gigi Sohn defends herself from criticism leveled by Republicans and broadband providers.
Sohn, a communications lawyer, is to appear a second time before the Senate Commerce Committee. The panel was set to vote on her nomination last week but a Democratic senator, Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, fell ill, depriving Sohn of a needed vote on the closely divided committee and opening the way for the Wednesday hearing.
“This is a delay strategy that ultimately will not prevent Gigi Sohn from being confirmed,” said Chip Pickering, a former Republican member of Congress and chief executive officer of the Incompas trade group that represents carriers competing with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.
The second hearing gives lawmakers a chance to scrutinize Sohn over a recusal stemming from her advocacy before the FCC.
Trade groups last week questioned her pledge to recuse herself from issues surrounding negotiations by broadband providers to carry local television signals. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Commerce Committee’s top Republican, asked for the additional hearing.
Sohn continues to draw opposition from the right.
“Gigi Sohn’s problems are issues of ethics and recusal,” Grover Norquist, president of American for Tax Reform, said in an email. “She is unacceptable no matter how many Republicans and Democrats are at FCC.”
As Sohn’s nomination awaits Senate action, some Biden priorities languish, including restoring the net neutrality rules that forbid broadband providers from unfair handling of web traffic.
Sohn recused herself on issues raised in a petition she filed with the FCC in 2010 as leader of the Public Knowledge advocacy group.
Joshua Stager, deputy director, broadband and competition policy, at the Open Technology Institute, a group that works to spread access to digital technology, said “the notion that a background in consumer protection conflicts with serving in a consumer protection agency should not be taken seriously.”
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
