A letter to Senate leaders from ~250 industry groups urges a Senate floor vote for FCC nominee Gigi Sohn to end a 21-month deadlock and enable Biden's agenda
Almost 250 groups will send a letter Friday to congressional leaders, calling for the Senate to vote to confirm Democratic nominee Gigi Sohn Tweets: @digiphile , @efffalcon , @cat_zakrzewski , and @evan_greer Tweets: Alex Howard / @digiphile : It's been 632 days since Inauguration Day. The @WhiteHouse claims it's been working “tirelessly” to get @gigibsohn a vote, but @SenSchumer still won't commit. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... As a result, @FCC is neutered. Telecom companies have gotten their $$ worth obstructing action. Ernesto Falcon / @efffalcon : 240+ groups representing small and rural companies, civil rights, and consumers call on the Senate to confirm Gigi Sohn. Meanwhile big ISPs have spent “$23 million combined lobbying Washington so far this year.” At stake is equal access to the Internet. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Cat Zakrzewski / @cat_zakrzewski : NEW: Almost a year after Biden nominated Gigi Sohn to the FCC, about 250 groups are calling Congress to confirm her. Sohn's allies say her nomination has been blocked by an unprecedented lobbying effort to keep the agency deadlocked. w/ @viaCristiano https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... Evan Greer / @evan_greer : I've been through enough political fights to be pretty desensitized to corruption & corporate influence, but the fact that @gigibsohn's nomination has been delayed for so long has to be one of the most blatant examples of democracy failing. Get this done! https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Context & Ripple Effects
Biden nominated Gigi Sohn as the FCC's third Democratic commissioner in October 2021 alongside Jessica Rosenworcel, but the Senate never scheduled a floor vote — an impasse that began when Biden had already left the FCC and NTIA leaderless for months (eight months into his term with no picks). By mid-October 2022 the deadlock has run 21 months, leaving the commission without a working majority and, as advocates put it, 'neutered.'
The letter from nearly 250 groups lands mid-fight: Comcast and Fox Corp. have teamed up to lobby swing-vote senators against her (the Comcast-Fox lobbying push), big ISPs have spent a combined $23 million on Washington lobbying this year, and Sen. Schumer still won't commit to a vote despite White House pressure.
First-order effects
- Schumer faces direct public pressure from ~250 groups representing small and independent interests to schedule a floor vote, against a $23 million ISP lobbying effort working the same swing senators.
- The FCC stays frozen at a 2-2 split, unable to advance Biden's telecom agenda items like reinstating net neutrality while the nomination sits unscheduled.
Second-order effects
- Opponents escalate rather than relent: Comcast and Fox Corp.'s coordinated campaign targets individual swing votes, signaling that any future nominee opposed by major ISPs will face the same treatment.
- With no confirmed third Democrat, regulatory decisions pile up unmade, pushing carriers and platforms to plan around an agency that cannot set rules.
Third-order effects
- If sustained lobbying can indefinitely stall a commissioner nomination, agency composition itself becomes purchasable — a structural shift toward regulators being staffed only when industry consent allows it.
- That dynamic proved durable: Sohn ultimately withdrew after 497 days, her nomination killed by the opposition campaign and personal attacks (her eventual withdrawal) — a template other nominees' opponents can reuse.
The trend: Telecom industry lobbying is outlasting presidential nominations themselves, keeping the FCC short-handed and turning broadband regulation into a function of Senate arithmetic rather than agency action.