Senate committee advances FCC nomination of Anna Gomez, renominations of Carr, Starks

Members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation yesterday approved the nomination of Anna Gomez to be a new FCC commissioner, as well as the renominations of existing FCC commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks. All three candidates can now be considered for confirmation by the full Senate.

Commerce Committee members approved all nominations—including Fara Damelin to be the FCC’s inspector general, Alvin Brown to be a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, and Coast Guard promotions—by a voice vote, with no initial verbal dissent. However, not all votes were unanimous, as the Gomez nomination was opposed by nine Republican senators, the Starks nomination was opposed by seven Republican senators, and the Carr nomination was opposed by two Democrat senators.

Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said Gomez—who worked at the NTIA during the Obama administration and played a key role in the establishment of the FirstNet Authority—“demonstrated she has the experience and judgment to be highly effective in this role as commissioner and has earned bipartisan support for her nomination.”

But Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) led a contingent of Republicans opposing the nominations of Gomez and Starks, both of whom are Democrats. He said part of his opposition was based on procedures, as some committee members were not able to meet with nominees prior to the vote.

But Cruz also expressed policy-oriented reasons for his dissent decisions. Cruz criticized Starks’ FCC record, noting that Starks did not support repeal of net-neutrality rules that called for Title II classification of broadband providers and that Starks “stayed silent” as FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel allegedly took procedural steps that effectively killed a multibillion-dollar broadcast transaction.

During the nomination hearing, Gomez said broadband is “too important” to citizens and the economy for it not to be regulated. Gomez said she would prefer Congress clarify the FCC’s role in regulating broadband—the meaning of current laws passed in 1997 have been debated for more than two decades—but she would support net-neutrality rules for this purpose in the meantime. While Gomez said she supports classifying broadband under Title II, she emphasized that she opposes using Title II to dictate pricing for broadband services.

Cruz said that Gomez “refused to disavow heavy-handed net-neutrality rules,” and that Gomez gave “non-committal answers” to his request regarding FCC transparency and accountability.

“But most of all, I am troubled by her previous online posts concerning the use of government power to police so-called ‘disinformation,’” Cruz said during the committee meeting.

“It was critical to gain clarity into Ms. Gomez’s views on free speech and the FCC’s role. Unfortunately, based on her vague answers to my questions, for the record, I am not confident that Ms. Gomez would actively oppose censorship by the FCC. Without that basic prerequisite, I am unable to support her confirmation.”

Joining Cruz in opposing the nominations of both Gomez and Starks—both Democrats—were Republican Sens. John Thune (S.D.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Ted Budd (N.C.), Eric Schmitt (Mo.), J.D. Vance (Ohio) and Cynthia Lumens (Wyo.). Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan (Alaska) and Deb Fischer (Neb.) also opposed the Gomez nomination but supported the renomination of Starks.

Democrat Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.) and Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) opposed the renomination of Carr, a Republican.

Since President Joe Biden’s inauguration, the FCC has been deadlocked 2-2 along party lines. While commissioners have been able to reach bipartisan agreements on many items, this 2-2 situation has resulted in some of the most controversial issues—for example, net-neutrality rules—not being tackled, according to numerous Beltway sources.

If Gomez, Carr and Starks are confirmed by the full Senate, the FCC would have five commissioners—with a 3-2 Democrat majority.

After his inauguration in January 2021, Biden waited until the fall of that year—and unusually lengthy time—to nominate Gigi Sohn to be the third Democrat commissioner on the FCC, but Sohn’s nomination was not the subject of a vote by the previous Congress. Even with Democrats holding a 51-49 edge in the Senate beginning this year, a renominated Sohn again failed to have her nomination considered for a vote.

Sohn withdrew from her nomination in March, and Biden nominated Gomez in May. At that time, Biden also renominated Starks and Carr.

Starks’ first term as an FCC commissioner expired last June, but rules allow him to continue serving until Congress recesses at the end of this year, if he is not confirmed to a second term. Carr’s first term on the FCC expired last month, but rules allow him to continue serving as a commissioner until Congress recesses at the end of 2024, if he is not confirmed to a second term.

Several communications-oriented groups expressed support for the Senate Commerce Committee’s advancement of the Gomez, Carr and Starks nominations to the full Senate.“NENA supports the nominations of these excellent public servants and looks forward to working with them and the entire FCC team in accelerating Next Generation 9-1-1,” Jonathan Gilad, NENA’s director of government affairs, said in a statement provided to IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

NATE President and CEO Todd Schlekeway echoed this sentiment.

“NATE congratulates Brendan Carr, Geoffrey Starks and Anna Gomez on advancing through the next step in this process and encourages the U.S. Senate to act quickly to confirm all three nominees,” Schlekeway said in a prepared statement provided to IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “Having a full slate of five commissioners and a continuity of the agency’s leadership is crucial, given the myriad broadband, wireless infrastructure, permitting, spectrum and workforce-development issues currently confronting the industry.”

Fiber Broadband Association President & CEO Gary Bolton agreed.

“The Fiber Broadband Association commends today’s action by the Senate Commerce Committee to move forward the nomination of Anna Gomez to be a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the renominations of Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks to be Commissioners on the FCC,” Bolton said in a prepared statement.

“The U.S. remains in the midst of an enormous investment cycle to bring high-performance broadband service, especially fiber connectivity, to every household, business, and anchor institution, as well as to support 5G/6G, smart cities and grids, and other advanced technologies and applications. To help make that happen, we need a five-member Federal Communications Commission composed of expert and thoughtful leaders. The pending nominees, certainly meet those high standards. We encourage the Senate to expeditiously confirm these nominees.”