Biden's FCC Choice Is Set for Vote in Senate Even as GOP Opposes Pick

(Bloomberg) -- Democrats will try again Thursday to advance President Joe Biden's choice for the Federal Communications Commission over objections from Republicans.

Gigi Sohn, a communications lawyer who has drawn GOP opposition in part for criticizing Fox News, is set to be considered by the Senate Commerce Committee. An earlier vote was postponed after a Democratic senator fell ill.

Sohn would give the FCC its first Democratic majority of the Biden presidency. Her arrival could boost policy initiatives such as net neutrality rules to govern broadband traffic. Committee approval would send her nomination to full Senate, where she would be favored to prevail since Democrats control the chamber.

“While I think the votes are there on Gigi's side, I think it will ultimately take awhile,” Robert McDowell, a Washington-based partner at Cooley LLP and former Republican FCC commissioner, said in an interview.

Committees are evenly split in the 50-50 Senate. If the panel vote results in a tie, Democrats could force a vote in the full Senate to bring the nomination to the floor. It would take a series of votes there to confirm.

Republicans on the Banking Committee have slowed Biden nominees to the Federal Reserve board by withholding attendance, denying the quorum needed for a vote. That's provoked discussion about whether Commerce Committee Republicans might do the same in a bid to stop Sohn.

If Republicans don't participate, the committee's vote could be challenged as invalid by Republicans on the Senate floor, Blair Levin, an analyst with New Street Research, said in a Feb. 21 note. To move the nomination forward the Senate would need to change its rules, Levin said.

Senator Roger Wicker, of Mississippi, the panel's top Republican, in an interview said he plans to attend the voting session.

Asked whether he was planning to boycott the session, Wicker said, “Where is the rumor coming from? Who is saying that?”

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, another Republican on the Commerce Committee, said “I'll deal with the issues tomorrow, tomorrow” when asked if he planned to stay away from the vote.

Other nominees to be considered during Thursday's session include Alvaro Bedoya, to be a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, and Mary Boyle, to be a commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, according to a committee notice posted online.