White House Formally Withdraws Sohn FCC Nomination
President Joe Biden formally withdrew Gigi Sohn’s FCC nomination Thursday, the White House said, more than three weeks after Sohn announced she had asked Biden to remove her from Senate consideration amid perceptions a handful of Democrats would join chamber…
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Republicans to stall her confirmation process for a third consecutive year (see 2303070082). Several names of potential candidates to replace Sohn have circulated since she first announced her exit, including: former acting NTIA Administrator Anna Gomez, ex-Wiley; Narda Jones, chief of staff to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel; NASA Chief of Staff Susie Perez Quinn; FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Alejandro Roark; National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts Chairman Felix Sanchez; and Treasury Department Capital Projects Fund Director Joseph Wender. Lawmakers are hoping Biden soon renominates incumbent Commissioner Geoffrey Starks to ensure the FCC at least maintains its current 2-2 partisan tie (see 2303100050). Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, noted in a recorded video for Free State Foundation's Tuesday conference that he will continue to ensure "our agencies are led by fair and impartial regulators, rather than by partisan idealogues with a penchant for censoring conservative speech," a reference to his criticism of Sohn's views on conservative media outlets (see 2302140077).