Anna Gomez Nomination on Track To Create Democratic FCC Majority

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 Federal Communications Commission. And apparently the Senate has teed up the nomination for a vote likely in September 2023. In July, the Senate unanimously invoked cloture on debate over the nomination, which means both that the nomination can be placed on the Senate calendar for a vote and also signals she will almost certainly be approved. With a majority, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel will be able to tackle controversial issues including restoring network neutrality rules, reforming the FCC's Universal Service Fund (USF) subsidies, and potentially re-regulating broadcasting and applying regulations to streamers for the first time. That last item is likely a nonstarter unless Congress weighs in to make it explicit that the FCC has authority over over-the-top video. Gomez has been a senior adviser on communications policy in the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy at the State Department and has a wealth of experience in that policy. She served as deputy administrator (acting chief) of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees and advises the president on government spectrum policy, from 2009 to 2013. The FCC has been without a full complement of commissioners and the political (in this case Democratic) majority that should have been the consequence of the last presidential election since the beginning of 2021, the longest such stretch in the FCC's history.