Wicker Sees GOP Opposition to Sohn, Bedoya Continuing After Renomination

President Joe Biden’s renominated Democratic picks for vacant FCC and FTC slots remain unlikely to get much, if any, Republican support amid ongoing misgivings over both nominees, Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker of Mississippi told us Tuesday. Biden renominated Gigi Sohn to the FCC and Alvaro Bedoya to the FTC earlier in the day, as expected (see 2201030056). Wicker believes NTIA administrator nominee Alan Davidson will have a far easier path forward, despite the chamber’s failure to quickly advance him last month. Senate leaders agreed to carry over Davidson's nomination from last year, aides confirmed.

Bedoya and Sohn faced strong GOP opposition in 2021 and that’s unlikely to abate now, Wicker and Senate GOP aides said. “Obviously there are serious questions that [Sohn] needs to answer” that she didn’t fully address in her December confirmation hearing or in responses to senators’ follow-up queries (see 2112100067), Wicker told us: Republicans continue to have qualms about Bedoya, too, and would likely uniformly line up against him again as they did during a December vote (see 2112010043). Some Senate Commerce Democrats also voiced misgivings about Sohn, causing the panel to postpone a vote on the nominee (see 2112090058). It remains unclear if Sohn will have support from remaining committee Democratic holdouts Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, lobbyists said.

The Senate’s holdover on Davidson shows there’s GOP interest in confirming him even though three Commerce Republicans voted against him last month (see 2112150069), Wicker said: “I really think we’re in a position to move forward” on Davidson this month. Senate leaders won’t have to wait for further Commerce action to advance Davidson but are likely to need to find time for debate and floor votes for the nominee, lobbyists said. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is expected to renew his hold on all Commerce Department nominees (see 2111180081), which will prevent the chamber from moving Davidson via unanimous consent, lobbyists said.

Three former FCC Public Safety Bureau chiefs who served during the Obama administration backed Sohn in Monday letters to Wicker and Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. The letters are partly aimed at countering the Fraternal Order of Police’s December claim that Sohn would pose “serious public safety” problems if confirmed because of her role as a board member for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, lobbyists said. FOP cited EFF’s “forceful advocacy of end-to-end encryption and ‘user-only-access.’”

Sohn as a top aide to then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler “took no position on encryption policy or encryption matters before us,” wrote Pelorus CEO David Simpson, who led the Public Safety Bureau during Sohn’s time at the commission. “On the contrary, she was extremely helpful in bringing tech-savvy professionals before the Bureau to provide useful background on both sides of the issue. Her support for the privacy rights of citizens has always been balanced with strong support for National Security and Public Safety objectives.”

“Tension continues regarding the appropriate national policy for commercial encryption,” Simpson said: “Congress can clarify” the FCC’s “role in addressing these competing priorities as 5G enables further expansion of our connected wireless lives.” He believes Sohn’s decisions if confirmed “will balance consumer, citizen and community interests with law enforcement and national security priorities consistent with statutory guidance from” lawmakers.

Sohn believes it's "of the highest priority for the FCC to use the authority it has to ensure that first responders have the communications support that they need, and that the public can reach help in an emergency over the vital commercial networks that the FCC regulates,” wrote Jamie Barnett, Viasat vice president-global communications solutions, and David Turetsky, State University of New York at Albany College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity professor. She “would be a strong advocate for the public safety and homeland security communications policies and initiatives that are critical to the American people and first responders.”