Anna Gomez’s term as FCC Commissioner expires today, two days after the Supreme Court ruled the President can remove commissioners without cause. As many wonder what comes next for the Commission’s lone Democrat, she is making no concessions on her position.
Gomez released a statement in response to the 6-3 decision in Trump v. Slaughter, which removed the constitutional argument she said she would use to fight removal in case of a firing, and focused on the high court’s asymmetry immediately.
“In a companion decision, the Court protected the Federal Reserve from political interference while leaving media regulators exposed,” she said. “Democracy depends on a free press and the preservation of free expression through all communication technologies as much as it depends on a stable economy.”
The rest of her statement built a case for why Congress created the FCC as an independent body, and the stress testing that framework is undergoing.
“We are already seeing what political control of this agency looks like in practice, through investigations targeting broadcasters and government critics for coverage this administration finds unfavorable,” Gomez stated. “When commissioners can be removed for their policy views rather than for cause, the inevitable result is an agency that pulls its punches and defers to political winds rather than the record before it. Consumers pay the price for that kind of regulatory timidity in higher costs, fewer choices, and slower progress toward the connected future this country deserves.”
Under the Communications Act, Gomez remains at the FCC in holdover status until a Democratic successor is seated or she is renominated by the president for a new term. Many view the latter as unlikely, given Gomez’s sustained public criticism of President Trump and the FCC’s investigations into broadcasters under Chairman Brendan Carr.
Regardless, either process is likely to take months and extend the period in which the agency operates on its current fragile quorum.
In the meantime, Gomez vows to continue down the path she’s set, saying, “Protecting consumers, promoting competitive innovation, and defending free expression are at the heart of my work at the Commission, and I intend to keep doing that work for as long as I am able to serve.”
