President Biden has found a new nominee to serve as a Democratic commissioner for the FCC, a critical post that, if confirmed by the Senate, would break a 2-2 deadlock at the telecommunications regulatory agency.
The nominee is Anna Gomez, a veteran government attorney.
Currently an advisor for international information and communications policy in the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, Gomez previously served as deputy administrator for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and also worked for 12 years in various roles at the FCC.
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Gomez’s nomination is a critical one for the FCC, which has a Democratic chair in Jessica Rosenworcel, but an effective 2-2 tie between its Republican and Democratic members. Biden’s first FCC nominee, Gigi Sohn, had been nominated in late 2021, but pulled herself from consideration earlier this year. Sohn, an outspoken supporter of net neutrality, had faced a bruising campaign from lobbyists tied to the telecom industry.
Also on Monday, Biden announced his intent to nominate the FCC’s other Democratic commissioner, Geoffrey Starks, to a new five-year term, and one of the Republican commissioners, Brendan Carr, to a new term.
If Carr, Starks and Gomez are confirmed by the Senate, the FCC would have a Democratic majority for the first time since Biden took office more than two years ago. Such a majority is necessary if the Biden administration intends to follow through on its campaign promises of Internet accessibility and affordability, as well as to reinstitute some net neutrality rules.
