Senate Democrats Want Biden Nominations Soon to Ensure FCC Majority

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, placed a temporary roadblock in Raimondo’s confirmation path Thursday, placing a hold that lobbyists told us will slightly delay Senate action. Cruz confirmed the hold, saying he remains concerned that Raimondo hasn’t unequivocally ruled out the Commerce Department rolling back restrictions on Huawei and other Chinese telecom and tech firms. Raimondo told lawmakers she sees “no reason to believe” entities like Huawei that are on the department's Bureau of Industry and Security entity list “should not be there” (see 2102020078).

Cruz tweeted he will “lift the hold when the Biden admin commits to keep the massive Chinese Communist Party spy operation Huawei on the Entity List.” He was one of three Commerce Republicans to vote against advancing Raimondo (see 2102030065). House Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Michael McCaul of Texas tweeted via the committee Republicans’ account that the “American people and our allies deserve a clear and straightforward answer” on whether Commerce will maintain the Huawei curbs.

Biden, meanwhile, revoked former President Donald Trump’s renomination of Covington & Burling’s Chase Johnson as FCC inspector general nominee (see 2101040034). The Senate failed to approve Johnson in December amid end-of-year absences of Republican senators needed to invoke cloture on his confirmation (see 2012210055). The White House and Johnson didn’t comment Friday.

Senate Commerce Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us she continues to believe the administration needs to “move quickly” to name a third FCC Democrat, as she did in December once it became clear the then-majority GOP Senate was intent on confirming Commissioner Nathan Simington and putting the agency into deadlock (see 2012020069). Free Press, Public Knowledge and 30 other groups prodded the Biden administration and Senate leaders in late January (see 2101280054).

“We had a conversation with” Biden administration officials about the need for early nomination of a third FCC Democrat, “but it’s been a few weeks, so I should check back with them and see what their progress is,” Cantwell said. Democrats want to make it clear “it’s important to move fast” and “get the commission filled.” Cantwell would be happy if acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel were renominated to the commission and would support Biden naming her or someone else as permanent chair. “I’m waiting to hear from” the administration about their intentions, Cantwell said. Rosenworcel’s term ended June 30 and she can remain through the beginning of 2022, unless the Senate confirms a replacement.

Priorities

“The Senate can act in a matter of days” on nominees “if it wishes,” as shown when Republicans fast-tracked post-election confirmation of Simington, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.: The Biden administration’s focus has been on setting up the cabinet, but once the Senate confirms those leaders, nominees to the FCC and other federal regulatory agencies “should be the next priority tier.” Rosenworcel and fellow Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks “are both strong candidates” to be named permanent chair, partly because they’re commissioners, Blumenthal said.

Democrats’ “agenda is to reverse everything” the FCC did under former Chairman Ajit Pai, “so I don’t think we’re going to be in any big rush” for a third Democrat to be added, said Senate Communications Subcommittee lead Republican John Thune of South Dakota. “The FCC is an important commission, but I think we’ll take things in stride” and “see who the nominee is.” Democrats hindered “pretty much every appointment they could” during the Trump administration, “especially those important ones,” he said.

“I would hope [Biden] would choose very carefully” when he’s selecting FCC nominees of either party, said Senate Commerce ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss. Biden should pick “someone with a great deal of expertise but also someone who plays well with others. The FCC could take a lesson from the FTC, which seems to have had less partisanship in the last several years” during Republican and Democratic presidencies.

This administration appears to be sorting through “a number of people who are still in contention,” including Rosenworcel and Starks for chair and a host of others to either wield the gavel or to take the vacant FCC seat, said a communications sector lobbyist who follows Democrats’ discussions. Others believed to be in contention include Wiley’s Anna Gomez, Gigi Sohn of the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and DLA Piper’s Smitty Smith. There's little movement behind the scenes toward new FCC nominees, which is surprising given the administration’s interest in returning to the 2015 net neutrality rules, lobbyists said.

Rosenworcel’s strong prospects for becoming permanent chair (see 2012310023) have grown in recent weeks amid Senate resistance to Biden’s nominees for cabinet roles, lobbyists said. Her ties to Capitol Hill would be an asset because the relatively tough time Biden has had getting nominees approved makes it more likely he would go with someone who's already well known to lawmakers, lobbyists said. The AFL-CIO backed Biden’s naming of Rosenworcel as acting chairwoman last week, tweeting she “understands the needs of those who are most affected by the FCC’s decisions, including tens of thousands of our union members.”

Groups seeking quick confirmation of a new FCC nominee wanted to make clear they see the matter as a top priority but didn't intend it as an ultimatum, said Free Press Vice President-Policy Matt Wood. There’s a “sliding scale” to the effect a lack of a clear Democratic FCC will have on agency operations because the commission is still able to act on some matters like working on how to structure the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program created in the FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid package (see 2101280035). “If there’s been nobody even named” to the third Democratic seat “by the middle of the year, obviously that’s too long” given interest in tackling issues like net neutrality that will require a majority, Wood said.