Cruz: No 'Clear Timeline Yet' for Intended FCC Nominee Trusty's Confirmation
Olivia Trusty, President Donald Trump’s intended nominee for the FCC seat former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel vacated last week, faces a uncertain confirmation timeline amid a glut of higher-profile nominees the Senate must process in the coming weeks. Trump said shortly before his return to office that he intended to pick Trusty for an FCC seat (see 2501160064) but as of Friday afternoon had not formally nominated her. It’s possible that the Senate Commerce Committee could hold a confirmation hearing for Trusty in February, but it's likelier to wait until the panel can pair her with a Trump NTIA administrator pick and other subcabinet nominees, some lobbyists told us.
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Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told us the panel lacks "a clear timeline” for bringing Trusty in for a hearing. “We just voted [transportation secretary nominee] Sean Duffy out of the committee” and will hold a confirmation hearing for commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick Wednesday (see 2501230019), Cruz said. “It’s my intention to move expeditiously” on Trusty and other nominees, but “it will depend in part on the timing of when we receive the paperwork and when” the nominees submit their prehearing questionnaires and other materials Senate Commerce requires.
Cruz told us he expects Trump will announce “a nomination very shortly” for NTIA administrator but wouldn’t say whether he wants to wait on Trusty so she and that nominee can appear at the same confirmation hearing. Lobbyists told us Trump remains likely to nominate Senate Commerce Republican Telecom Policy Director Arielle Roth as NTIA's leader (see 2501160077). Some lobbyists believe Cruz intends to bring up Trusty simultaneously with the NTIA pick and potentially FTC nominee Mark Meador, as well as a Democratic candidate to replace FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, if he resigns during the first part of this year (see 2412040046).
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us he expects Trusty to “sail through” the confirmation process but wasn’t sure about her timeline. Trusty is a Republican Armed Services staffer and was previously Senate Commerce’s Republican telecom policy director when Wicker chaired that panel. Her nomination thus far hasn’t generated much comment on Capitol Hill amid greater attention on Trump’s cabinet picks, but lobbyists said she's likely to get unanimous support from the 53-member Senate GOP caucus. The lobbyists expect she will also draw at least some support from Senate Democrats and certainly won’t engender the kind of sustained opposition that they have voiced concerning Trump’s more controversial Cabinet nominees.
Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington cautioned that she and other Democrats won’t automatically support Trusty simply because they know her as a former panel aide. “It depends on what [Trusty] says” during her confirmation hearing, in meetings with Democratic senators and in her responses to post-hearing questions, Cantwell told us. “We’ve been in meetings" with Trusty, “but we’ve never heard about what her views” are on critical issues that the FCC may address under Chairman Brendan Carr.
“We’ve got to understand what [Trusty] thinks the challenges and opportunities are” for the FCC under Carr “and what kind of role she wants to play to move our country forward,” Cantwell said. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, who’s likely to be the Senate Communications Subcommittee’s ranking member, told us he’s not taking a position on Trusty until after he’s met with her.