Gaps in broadband access is backdrop to Sohn’s FCC nomination fight

In parts of Oklahoma’s 3rd Congressional District, more than half of the state’s rural residents don’t have access to a broadband connection, said House Science Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK), who represents the district in Congress. Oklahoma is not alone. Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), echoed that view at a House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing: “It’s clear traveling in my district [that] too many Americans still lack access to the internet." Even as House Republicans call for more internet access in rural areas, their counterparts in the Senate are holding up the confirmation of a Federal Communications Commission nominee that some say is needed to close the gap in connectivity. Senate Republicans again indicated opposition to Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] for a seat on the FCC, a confirmation that would give the agency its fifth commissioner and give the Democrats a 3-2 majority. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Sohn “is no more qualified to be installed on the FCC than she was back in 2021 or 2022." Sohn didn’t receive a floor vote in the last Congress after the Senate Commerce Committee deadlocked on her confirmation. President Joe Biden has resubmitted her nomination. Democrats say the FCC needs all five members to complete the broadband maps that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will use to allocate about $42.5 billion. The money is part of the $65 billion that Congress appropriated in a 2021 law to address the internet access gap and expand high-speed broadband.