The Senate Republicans' gambit to deadlock the FCC failed

Shortly after the election, it appeared that Republicans in the Senate hoped to gum up the Federal Communications Commission and potentially block Biden from filling it out. In early December, the Senate rammed through the nomination of Nathan Simington, a person handpicked by President Donald Trump to serve on the FCC whose selection was fraught with controversy because of his connection to the president's much-criticized social media executive order that targeted Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. When FCC Chairman Ajit Pai steps down from the FCC on Jan 20, Commissioner Simington leaves the agency in a 2-2 deadlock down party lines. The goal of getting Commissioner Simington onto the FCC quickly seemed to be so that Senate Republicans would be able to hold off or slow down any pick Biden made to fill out the five person agency and keeping it in a 2-2 deadlock. But that gambit hit a crushing roadblock when Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff were able to defeat Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Sen. David Perdue (R-GA). Democratic control of the Senate could also give Biden more latitude on who he might choose to fill out the FCC.