Senate Confirms Trusty to First FCC Term on 53-45 Vote
The Senate confirmed Republican Olivia Trusty to the FCC Tuesday on a largely party-line, 53-45 vote, as expected. The vote covered only her nomination to finish the term of former Democratic Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, which expires June 30. The chamber is likely to confirm Trusty on Wednesday to a full five-year term, which will begin July 1. Once sworn in, Trusty will shift the FCC to a 2-1 Republican majority. The simultaneous resignations earlier this month of Republican Commissioner Nathan Simington and Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks left the agency without a quorum and in a 1-1 tie.
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Only one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, joined all present Republicans in supporting Trusty on the floor. Lobbyists had expected almost no Democrats would back her after Commerce Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington told us Monday night that she would oppose the nominee. Cantwell and Fetterman were among six panel Democrats who voted to advance Trusty in late April.
Cantwell told us Tuesday that if President Donald Trump had named a Democrat to replace Starks, it might have “gone a long way” toward convincing several Democrats to vote for Trusty. She and others are also concerned that policy decisions in a GOP-majority FCC will simply come “directly from the White House,” she said. Cantwell raised those concerns Monday in a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us most Democrats who opposed Trusty on Tuesday “knew she was going to be confirmed [even without their support] and were just trying to give [Cantwell] some cover.”