President Joe Biden today nominated Acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel to lead the agency permanently. That puts her on the path to become the first woman to chair the agency on a permanent basis, according to the White House. Biden also nominated former FCC official Gigi Sohn to the open Democratic seat on the Commission.
The moves would give Democrats a majority on the five-person panel for the first time during Biden’s presidency, ending a 2-2 partisan stalemate that has stymied much of the progressive agenda for the FCC. But the clock is ticking to get Senate confirmations. Although Rosenworcel can immediately assume the permanent chair role, her term on the FCC lapsed in 2020, which means she must leave at the end of this year unless the Senate confirms her to a new five-year term. If Rosenworcel and Sohn are not confirmed by the Senate, Republicans are poised to gain a 2-1 majority on the commission come January.
Biden also nominated longtime tech lawyer Alan Davidson to head the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a key post for setting the executive branch’s policies on issues like wireless spectrum use and 5G. Davidson is a veteran tech lawyer who has worked since 2018 at Mozilla, the company that launched the Firefox browser.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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