Trump to give Republicans a 3-1 FCC majority, isn't filling empty Democratic seat - Ars Technica
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The Federal Communications Commission has been shorthanded throughout President Trump’s second term, but it’s about to get a new commissioner. Unsurprisingly, Trump is breaking a historical norm with a nomination that would give Republicans a 3-1 advantage on the FCC.
Historically, the president and Senate worked together to ensure that the president’s party maintained only a one-vote majority. Normally, the president’s party has three FCC members while the minority party has two.
Instead of the typical 3-2 split, the FCC has operated with a 2-1 Republican majority during Trump’s second term. On Friday, Trump nominated Republican Danielle Thumann Severs to take one of the empty spots. Thumann Severs, a lawyer, has been working as FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s senior counsel. She must be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate before being sworn in as a commissioner.
The FCC has played a leading role in Trump’s attacks on news broadcasters, with Carr using his position to investigate and threaten the licenses of broadcasters that don’t provide coverage favorable to Trump. A third Republican to cast votes at commission meetings will give Carr more support for his policies.
Every FCC commissioner must be confirmed by the Senate after receiving a nomination from the president. Even commissioners in the minority party need a presidential nomination.
If Trump followed the historical norm, he would have nominated one Republican and one Democrat to the FCC so they could be confirmed by the Senate simultaneously. Presidents typically nominate commissioners from the opposing party based on recommendations from the other party. That’s what Trump did in his first term when he nominated Democrat Geoffrey Starks based on a recommendation from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Since the FCC needs only three members for a quorum, adding a third Republican raises the possibility that Trump will fire the FCC’s only Democrat and give his party a 3-0 advantage. But stocking the commission with only Republicans would violate a law that prohibits any party from having an FCC supermajority, which could put the FCC’s decisions at greater risk of being blocked in court.
Senate Democrat: “That will be a problem”
While the Senate’s Republican majority can confirm Thumann Severs without any Democratic support, doing so without a paired Democratic nomination will result in a contentious confirmation process. Senate Democrats want Thumann Severs to be paired with a Democratic nominee so the commission can have a full slate of five members. But it doesn’t appear that Trump will nominate a Democrat for the fifth spot.
“That will be a problem. We want pairing,” Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) told Politico on Friday.
Cantwell is the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, which will consider the nomination before it goes to a full Senate vote. The committee is chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas.), who told Politico that “we will assess the nomination on its merits.”
Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), the top Democrat on the telecommunications and media subcommittee, was quoted as saying that “if President Trump wants to fill these positions, he should do them in a bipartisan way. I would certainly hope my Republican colleagues on the committee want to see some semblance of balance as well. Because who’s going to be the next president?”
Shortly after his second term began, Trump declared sweeping power over historically independent agencies and fired both Democrats from the Federal Trade Commission. The Supreme Court upheld the FTC firing in a decision that solidified Trump’s power over an agency that historically was not under the direct control of the president. The FTC currently has just two commissioners, both Republicans, and three vacant seats.
Trump has resisted firing FCC’s only Democrat
The Supreme Court ruling on the FTC raised speculation that Trump would fire the FCC’s one Democrat, Anna Gomez, and have the FCC be run by Republicans only. But Gomez has still not been fired despite being a consistent critic of the Trump FCC’s attacks on news broadcasters and gutting of broadband consumer rules.
Gomez issued a statement congratulating Thumann Severs on Friday and said, “I look forward to continuing our work together, hopefully soon with a full commission of five, the way this agency was built to operate.” Carr issued a statement congratulating Thumann Severs but did not...