The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a Nov. 17 nomination hearing for acting chair Jessica Rosenworcel. She must be vetted and voted in before the end of the year or she would have to leave the commission since her term has already expired.
But not on that hearing schedule is President Biden's other nominee to the FCC, Gigi Sohn. Sohn's installation on the committee is needed to give the Democrats the three-commissioner majority Biden earned by winning the presidency but there was talk in Washington this week that she might get a separate hearing.
While Rosenworcel is expected to be confirmed with the support of some Republicans as well as Democrats, Sohn's road to confirmation appears rougher.
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Republicans have registered their concern about Sohn, a former cheerleader for network neutrality rules, though Rosenworcel was also a big proponent of them.
The Wall Street Journal's editorial page this week came out in opposition to Sohn.
Also scheduled for the Nov. 17 hearing is the nomination of Alvaro Bedoya to the Federal Trade Commission. Bedoya‘s confirmation is also needed to give the FTC its Democratic majority.
Bedoya is the founding director of the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law as well as a visiting law professor. His resume also includes chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.
