On Monday, broadcasters made three separate presentations to FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez’s policy aides on the need to protect the regulatory status quo at a minimum regarding TV station ownership. The National Association of Broadcasters went a step further in calling for relaxation of a rule that limits combinations among the most popular stations in a local market.
Anna Gomez has been sworn in as the newest commissioner of the FCC. The Democrat gives Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel the majority she needs to start tackling nonbipartisan issues like potential media regulation and network neutrality rules.
“A fully seated FCC must pursue more ambitious and necessary reforms,” the group wrote. “Specifically, there are three areas where action is necessary to enable vital local news and information our communities need.”
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel issued the following statement on the U.S. Senate confirmation of Anna Gomez to serve a five-year term as an FCC commissioner: “Congratulations to Anna […]
Exclusives
The Senate on Thursday moved toward confirming a third Democratic commissioner to the FCC, giving the party a working majority on the commission almost three years into President Joe Biden’s presidential term. Anna Gomez (pictured), a telecommunications attorney, was nominated by Biden last May. The Senate voted 55-43 to cut off debate and proceed to a final vote on her nomination, which will take place later on Thursday.
It has been more than one month since the Senate Commerce Committee favorably reported the nomination of Anna Gomez to fill the fifth, and vacant, seat on the FCC, but the Senate has teed up the nomination for a vote likely in September, said one observer who will welcome the Democratic majority.
This week could prove to be a pivotal one for the FCC as efforts to bring to a vote the nomination of Anna Gomez hit overdrive. Supporters hope to have the Democrat confirmed before the Senate breaks for its month-long August recess at week-end. The decision will be up to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) who is also under pressure to get the 2024 military spending bill completed before lawmakers leave town.
The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a vote next week on the nomination of Anna Gomez (left) for the open seat on the FCC, as well as the renominations of Democrat Geoffrey Starks (center) and Republican Brendan Carr (right) for their respective seats. The nomination markup will be July 12 at 10 a.m. If all goes well, the committee will favorably report the nominations to the full Senate for a vote, something that never happened for Gomez’s predecessor, Gigi Sohn, whose nomination was withdrawn after it was killed by Republicans, industry players and at least one Democrat who failed to support her.
Testifying at her first nomination hearing on Thursday, longtime telecommunications lawyer Anna Gomez faced little of the partisan sparring that marked prior nominee Gigi Sohn’s appearances.
In addition, Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr are re-nominated to serve additional five-year terms as FCC commissioners.
President Joe Biden intends to select veteran government lawyer Anna Gomez to serve on the Federal Communications Commission and give the agency its first Democratic majority of his presidency, a person briefed on the matter said. Gomez’s arrival would allow the FCC, after more than two years of partisan deadlock, to act on matters including loosening rules on broadcast consolidation. Gomez’s selection may be announced soon, said the person briefed on the matter, who declined to be identified because the matter hasn’t been made public.
Now that Gigi Sohn has withdrawn her nomination for the open seat on the FCC, the musical chairs game of guess the new nominee begins. One name that has surfaced as a possible, confirmable candidate is a familiar one — Anna Gomez. Her resume includes a stint as head of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, the FCC’s opposite number overseeing government-controlled spectrum, as well as experience at the FCC as onetime head of the International Bureau. She also has experience on Capitol Hill and at the White House, and was a partner at communications firm Wiley, which has accounted for a number of FCC commissioners and chairs, including name partner Dick Wiley.
Supporters of FCC nominee Gigi Sohn are dismissing a call over the weekend by advocacy group ALLvanza for President Joe Biden to drop Sohn’s nomination in favor of a Hispanic candidate.
While the Biden administration has been slow to appoint the key decisionmakers at agencies overseeing technology issues, a handful of people are on the inside track to lead them. By and large, these likely appointees do not have direct ties to Big Tech companies and have advocated for tougher measures against the industry. Many also previously served in the Obama administration and fall in the progressive camp.
Anna M. Gomez, who served as the deputy assistant secretary for communications and information at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) since 2009, has joined […]
