Under pressure from progressive activists, Democrats are planning to employ a rarely used parliamentary maneuver to push through President Joe Biden’s nominees for the FCC and the FTC. Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee have so far blocked the nominations of consumer advocate Gigi Sohn to the FCC and Georgetown University law professor Alvaro Bedoya to the FTC, largely on grounds that they are too partisan. That has left both Commissions deadlocked with a 2-2 split between Democrats and Republicans, denying agency leaders the majorities they need to advance administration priorities.
In response, Senate Democratic leaders are preparing to use a parliamentary maneuver known as a discharge petition to allow a floor vote on both nominees, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
The vote for Bedoya could happen as early as this week. But the maneuver could be difficult to pull off and could take weeks to accomplish.
A majority vote of the Senate is required to advance the discharge petition and bypass a committee vote. Without Republican support—and so far at the committee level there has been none—that means all 50 Democratic-voting members plus Vice President Kamala Harris must be present to support the petition.
COVID-19 exposures and infections have complicated the Democrats’ effort. But if Senate Democrats stay healthy this week, the discharge petition could be successfully deployed for Bedoya, according to the WSJ.
Democrats also hope to use the parliamentary maneuver to gain a floor vote on Sohn. She was a counselor to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and led Public Knowledge, a public-interest group that advocates for stronger antitrust enforcement.
The outspoken progressive consumer advocate has drawn GOP criticism for tweets on political topics that conservatives view as partisan, Inside Towers reported. One example is a Sohn tweet that called Fox News “state-sponsored propaganda” because of a lack of opposing viewpoints.
Sohn declined to comment. Progressives view her confirmation as important to a number of FCC priorities, including expanding access to broadband and re-establishing net-neutrality rules, which require internet service providers to treat all internet traffic equally. She also has drawn support from some conservative businesspeople and activists.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
Reader Interactions