It’s been nearly a year since President Joe Biden named Gigi Sohn as his pick to become the fifth member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), but the nominee’s prospects of actually being installed are as unclear as ever. A fresh report from The Deal tipped Sohn to squeak through the Senate confirmation process during a lame duck session in the coming months. But New Street Research analyst Blair Levin warned it’s extremely difficult to predict what will happen.
Sohn’s appointment would give Democrats a 3-2 advantage at the FCC, allowing Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to pursue items like net neutrality reforms which currently stand no chance of being passed by the evenly divided 2-2 Commission.
As a quick refresher, Sohn was nominated for an FCC post alongside Rosenworcel in October 2021. Though the latter obtained Senate approval in early December, the former’s bid got tangled up in a partisan battle. Biden renominated her in January and her bid advanced through the Senate Commerce Committee in March, but it has yet to make it to the Senate floor for a vote.
In mid-March reports indicated Sohn might finally be up for a vote and in July rumors swirled that Biden might withdraw his pick and try to push another nominee through. But nothing came of either. If no action is taken, Sohn’s nomination will expire when the current session of Congress ends on January 3, 2023. At that point, Biden would have to renominate her and begin the confirmation process again.
Levin told Fierce there are two primary reasons the Biden administration might feel pressure to get Sohn appointed before then, the first related to politics and the second related to policy. On the political front, Levin noted the upcoming election in November could flip control of the Senate to Republicans. And “the practical reality I think is if the Republicans win the Senate, it is unlikely they will confirm any Democrat who will give the Democrats a working majority at the Commission.”
If they lose the Senate, Democrats could try to push Sohn through during the lame duck session (which simply refers to the time between the election and the installation of the next Congress in January). However, given the roadblock thus far has been reported concerns among some Democrats, Levin said the key question is whether those Democrats would still object to her appointment during the lame duck period.
On the policy front, Levin noted time is of the essence if Democrats want to tackle priority issues like net neutrality and digital discrimination.
“Any proceeding at the FCC takes really a minimum of six to nine months, and it’s better to do things earlier where political capital is higher,” he explained. While Sohn’s vote would give the FCC the votes needed to address those issues, “if you understand the administrative procedure and the length of time it takes to get certain things done, time is running out.”
In a New Street note to investors, Levin concluded “Sohn has a decent, but not certain path to confirmation.”