Two key Biden administration nominees focusing on telecom and consumer privacy advanced out of a Senate committee, but their path to confirmation may face additional obstacles from Republican lawmakers.
Gigi Sohn, nominated to the Federal Communications Commission, and Alvaro Bedoya, nominated to the Federal Trade Commission, both advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee with a 14-14 vote, split along party lines.
Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told reporters that she hoped Sohn and Bedoya would each get a confirmation vote in the full Senate "soon."
"We need functioning commissions," she said. "These are agencies that are about protecting the American consumers, in my opinion."
Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member, once again raised concerns about Sohn's recusals from commission items relating to retransmission consent and TV broadcast copyright, as well as her involvement in now-defunct TV streaming service Locast, where Sohn served as a board member. Pay TV providers pay retrans fees to broadcasters in exchange for the right to distribute their local stations. Locast distributed broadcast signals online without payment to station owners.
Wicker questioned whether Sohn will have to recuse herself from further FCC items.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, hinted that he would put a hold on Sohn's vote. "I think it is a problematic precedent for this committee to move forward a nominee" that poses serious ethical questions, he said. Republicans have alleged Sohn withheld information about a financial settlement that resulted from the shutdown of Locast. Sohn has said the details of the $700,000 settlement were subject to a nondisclosure agreement and thus confidential.
Of the lack of disclosure, Cruz said, "This should be an issue that concerns both Republicans and Democrats."
As for Bedoya, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said he plans to put Bedoya's vote on hold on the full Senate floor, citing the agency's lack of communications to the senator regarding their views on a piece of ongoing M&A activity in Missouri.
"If this nominee goes to the floor, I'll put a hold on his nomination until the FTC is more responsive and more reasonable about looking at this and other potential acquisitions that I'm aware of," he said.
A Senate hold is an informal practice whereby senators communicate to Senate leaders, often in the form of a letter, their policy views and scheduling preferences regarding measures and matters available for floor consideration. The decision to honor a hold request, and for how long, rests with the majority leader.
The FTC has been laying the groundwork on several initiatives, including new antitrust cases and privacy rules, but those efforts are not likely to proceed until Bedoya is officially at his post. Agency leader Lina Khan in January announced that new joint merger guidelines will be created for U.S. companies, speaking alongside Jonathan Kanter, who heads the antitrust division at the U.S. Justice Department.
Once the FCC has a full bench, the agency is expected to move on restoring Title II net neutrality protections that would giving the agency more regulatory authority over broadband service providers including Comcast Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc.
"These committee votes are extremely important for getting stalled parts of the technology policy agenda moving with a sense of urgency," said Chris Lewis, CEO of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge.
"The FCC plays a critical role in ensuring consumers have access to robust, affordable broadband and the FTC works to ensure that once consumers are online, their privacy is protected and there is a functioning market that provides choice," Lewis added.
A vote on Sohn and Bedoya was delayed earlier this year after Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., suffered a stroke in Albuquerque. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle stood and applauded at his return to the committee.
Moderate Senate Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, whose vote for Sohn had been a toss-up ahead of the hearing, declined to discuss her voting decision. "I'm sorry, but I only want to talk about Ben Ray today," she told S&P Global Market Intelligence outside the committee chamber.