Simington Vote Scheduled in Senate

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Could delay Democratic FCC agenda

FCC nominee Nate Simington
(Image credit: C-SPAN)

A Senate vote on Nathan Simington to succeed Michael O'Rielly as a commissioner on the FCC has been scheduled for Tuesday (Dec. 8), according to tweets from the Senate Cloak Room.

That will follow a vote on the motion by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to invoke cloture on debate.

Democrats are trying to block the nomination because after Jan. 20 and until then-President Joe Biden can nominate and half a potentially still-Republican-held Senate confirms them, the FCC will be at a 2-2 political tie.

Some predict it could be many months before a third Democrat could be confirmed, holding up any efforts to restore net neutrality rules, as the FCC would be expected to do under Democratic leadership.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.