Sohn supporters slam Democrats over failure to confirm Biden’s FCC nominee

Advocacy groups that led the charge for Gigi Sohn, President Biden’s nominee to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), slammed Democrats over their failure to confirm her, leaving the agency with a 2-2 partisan split. 

Sohn announced Tuesday that she asked Biden to withdraw her nomination after facing “unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks” on her character and career, ending a two-year battle over her bid. 

Republican senators had already united in opposition to Sohn, citing her personal political views and past criticism of conservative news outlets. The announcement of her withdrawal came hours after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced he, too, would oppose Sohn, likely dooming her confirmation.

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“The FCC must remain above the toxic partisanship that Americans are sick and tired of, and Ms. Sohn has clearly shown she is not the person to do that,” Manchin said in a Tuesday statement Tuesday.

Democrats could still have confirmed her if all other members of their party and the vice president voted for her, but the absences of Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) and John Fetterman (Pa.) effectively blocked progress on Sohn’s nomination.

Why Sohn was facing Senate heat

Sohn is a lawyer with more than three decades of experience in technology privacy law. She previously served as a top aide to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. 

She faced three nomination hearings, the most recent one being held last month. During the hearings, Republicans slammed her over accusations that she is too far to the left for the position and allegations of conflicts of interest due to comments she made about conservative media. 

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), ranking member of the Commerce Committee, said in a statement Sohn’s withdrawal is a “major victory and represents strong bipartisan agreement that we need a fair and impartial candidate who can receive the support needed for confirmation.” 

Last year’s hearings largely targeted Sohn’s work with Locast, a now-ceased nonprofit streaming service that settled a lawsuit alleging the service infringed on television networks’ copyrights. Sohn had promised to recuse herself from issues if confirmed. 

Sohn supporters decry ‘smears’

While Sohn’s political views helped drum up GOP opposition, her supporters also blame a series of stories published by conservative news outlets such as Fox News and the Daily Mail. Her supporters say those articles alleged that Sohn and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit digital rights group that Sohn sits on the board of, oppose efforts to protect victims of sex trafficking.

The claim is based on EFF’s opposition to two GOP-led bills, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) and Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), that the group argued will not stop sex trafficking and would make policing it harder. 

Evan Greer, spokesperson for the digital rights group Fight for the Future, called the attacks fueled by the conservative outlets “homophobic smears.” Sohn would have been the agency’s first openly gay commissioner. 

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The stories were part of what Preston Padden, a former president of ABC and a founding executive of Fox Broadcasting Company, told the Commerce Committee in a letter dated late January called “the worst, and most cynical and baseless smear campaign ever waged against a nominee to serve on the FCC.” 

“Ms. Sohn’s only sin is that she roots for the underdog and for consumers. As a result, some of the dominant Cable TV companies and Internet Service Providers have stooped to lows never before seen to smear Ms. Sohn,” he wrote.

Maria Langholz, communications director at progressive nonprofit Demand Progress, said that “while it would be easiest to blame the right wing for her nomination failing, there was missing urgency and commitment from Democrats in the White House and Senate.”

Senate Democrats under fire from activists

While Sohn focused her ire on cable and media lobbyists, the advocacy groups that spent the past couple of years backing her said Democrats, who had control of the Senate the entire time, share a brunt of the blame.  

“The industry probably led in financing the attacks, the Republicans were happy to echo them. But the reality is that Democrats still had a majority that should have been able to vote for their own party’s — their own president’s — nominee,” said Craig Aaron, president and co-CEO of Free Press, an advocacy group that promotes affordable internet access and restoring net neutrality rules.

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“But ultimately, it is up to those who chair the committees and control the majority to rally support for well qualified nominees,” Aaron said.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said in a statement that while she is disappointed, she respects Sohn’s decision to withdraw her nomination. 

Throughout the confirmation process, Cantwell said Sohn “demonstrated her expertise in telecommunications law, deep experience and commitment to ensuring that every American has access to affordable broadband regardless of where they live.”

“More importantly, I commend her for the integrity and fortitude she displayed in the face of a coordinated, hate-fueled campaign to malign and distort her character and record,” Cantwell added. 

A spokesperson for Cantwell declined to comment on the criticism of Democrats’ handling of the process from advocates. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) did not respond to a request for comment. 

Sohn’s withdrawal further delays FCC’s Democratic agenda 

The groups that backed Sohn, and are slamming Democrats, underscored how the delay will push back the agency’s ability to advance Democrats’ agenda, such as reinstating Obama-era net neutrality laws. 

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“Even if the White House names a new nominee, there may not be enough time for the FCC to move forward with key priorities like restoring net neutrality and broadband privacy rules,” Greer said.

“By allowing Sohn’s nomination to be undermined by disingenuous attacks and refusing to condemn them, the Biden administration and Senate Democrats have set a terrible precedent for future public interest nominees and LGBTQ nominees,” Greer said. 

The advocacy groups also urged the White House not to balk and pick an “industry friendly” nominee to replace Sohn. 

“The worst thing that the White House and the Senate can do now, is try to come up with some kind of candidate that they think won’t anger industry,” Aaron said. 

“There’s danger that there’ll be conventional wisdom, like, ‘oh, well, we tried someone who actually represented the public interest can’t do that again. Let’s go find someone that the industry likes.’ That is going to be met with outrage,” he said.