U.S. Senate Committee Advances Biden’s FCC Nominee

WASHINGTON—Lawmakers serving on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation have approved the nominations for three individuals to serve as commissioners on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This includes nominee Anna Gomez who currently serves as a senior advisor for international information and communications policy at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. Gomez was named by President Joe Biden as a replacement for failed nominee Gigi Sohn, a very well-regarded digital consumer rights attorney and board member for the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation. “Ms. Gomez has demonstrated she has the experience and judgment to be highly effective in this role as commissioner and has earned bipartisan support for her nomination,” noted the committee chair, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, in her opening remarks at the July 12 confirmation hearing.  In this hearing, Cantwell added that the members of the committee will reconfirm sitting FCC commissioners Brendan Carr, a Republican, and Geoffrey Starks, a Democrat. Gomez advances to the committee of the whole, or the entire U.S. Senate, for a final confirmation vote before she becomes the fifth commissioner to sit on a committee that’s been evenly split ideologically since President Biden assumed office at the beginning of his term in 2021. AVN previously reported that the FCC, the central regulatory authority for all elements of wireless communications in the U.S., is statutorily required to have five members. Currently, only four commissioners sit on the commission, which is led by Democratic-leaning chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel. If Gomez is named to the commission by the Senate, this will end nearly three years of deadlock at the FCC. Unfortunately, as they did with Gigi Sohn, the Republican senators on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation are attempting to turn Gomez into a politically-motivated would-be regulator who ostensibly wishes to censor conservative and far-right voices online and on television and radio. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, the ranking member of the committee, released a statement on July 12 calling Gomez an individual “with an appetite for regulatory overreach and lukewarm commitments to procedural fairness and the First Amendment.” In other remarks, the senator from Texas outlined a clear partisan divide in how Gomez and her fellow FCC nominees were viewed. Cruz lauded Carr, the Republican-protege to former free market-leaning FCC chair Ajit Pai, who oversaw the repeal of the net neutrality rules implemented by the Obama-era FCC. Regarding Gomez and sitting commissioner Starks, however, Cruz further opined, “As for Geoffrey Starks, I understand he was previously confirmed by the Senate by voice vote. But during his four and half years at the FCC, he’s developed a record that leaves much to be desired. Nor am I comfortable that Anna Gomez possesses the independence and regulatory humility necessary for confirmation.” Despite Cruz’s reservations, all of the nominations now go to the Senate. Based on previous politicking surrounding Sohn’s nomination, the hurdle for Gomez is to ensure that the slim Democratic majority in the Senate delivers her the position. In the case of Sohn, more moderate-leaning Democrats, such as Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, threatened to block Sohn’s ascension to the FCC based on her professional background at the FCC during the Obama net neutrality era and previous advocacy in counter laws like FOSTA.  Being that Sohn is a board member at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, telecommunications companies and giant ISPs funded a coordinated campaign in right-wing news and social media to defame her reputation. Breitbart, the far-right outrage machine that was developed by former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, ran news stories equating Sohn’s service as a board member at the foundation as so-called extreme partisanship. But, this wasn’t the case at all. The far-right took issue with the EFF honoring a dominatrix and OnlyFans model with an award for standing up for civil liberties on the internet. Additionally, the telecom-backed campaign resulted in a textbook character assassination by discriminatorily highlighting Sohn’s sexual preferences and personal life. Sohn is a lesbian. Religious social conservatives and the vanguard of hate-spewing anti-LGBTQ activists jumped on Sohn’s sexual preferences in a way that was never before seen in the confirmation proceedings for a position that is considerably non-controversial compared to other political appointments, like for the Supreme Court or a military general being named to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Sohn withdrew her nomination. She was nominated by the Biden White House twice and was unable to gain confirmation to the FCC. This is a cautionary tale for Gomez and her handlers at the White House. Even though she has gotten over the hurdle of the confirmation hearing, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if members of the Senate Republicans use the vote of the whole body for political antics. Hopefully, Gomez will be confirmed on a voice vote that will go in favor of the slim majority of Democrats led by majority leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY. The confirmation of a new FCC commissioner will directly impact the online adult entertainment industry; crucially, if Gomez is confirmed, the FCC is expected to revive net neutrality rules in much-needed check and balance to the largest internet service providers in the United States. Net neutrality requires all public and private internet service providers (ISPs) to treat internet data and their customers fairly. Under these rules, ISPs are not allowed to speed up, slow down, or block any content, applications or websites. Adult industry trade organization the Free Speech Coalition announced support for retaining net neutrality rules in 2017, along with EFF, the American Civil Liberties Union, American Library Association, and organizations representing video and music streaming providers like Spotify and Netflix.