Twenty-one House Democrats are urging the Senate to preserve the FCC’s bipartisan structure, crediting Commissioner Anna Gomez with defending broadcasters’ editorial independence and calling for her renomination alongside any new Republican pick, including President Trump’s latest FCC nominee.
The members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the FCC, are asking Senate leaders to pair any new Republican commissioner nomination with a Democratic one, including the renomination of Gomez to a full term. The October 29 letter is addressed to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz.
The letter says the Communications Act limits how many commissioners may belong to one party so that decisions on broadband, media ownership, and network security are tested by more than one point of view. It credits Gomez with independent judgment and with engaging members of both parties on the merits of an issue. It cites her work on closing the digital divide, spectrum policy, including her experience leading US preparations for the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference, and network security.
On broadcasting, the signers wrote that the FCC’s licensing and enforcement authority over broadcasters carries real constitutional limits, and that Gomez has taken that seriously, defending editorial independence and speaking out when she believed the authority was being stretched beyond its proper role.
The request comes as President Trump’s August nomination of Danielle Thumann Severs, senior counsel to Chairman Brendan Carr, awaits action in the Senate. If confirmed, she would join Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty as a third Republican. Gomez’s term expired June 30, and she remains at the FCC in holdover status. As Radio Ink reported, Sen. Ron Wyden has argued that the Communications Act bars an all-Republican commission.
The signers wrote, “The Commission functions as intended only when both parties have a seat at the table. Confirming an additional Republican nominee without also securing continued Democratic representation would upset that balance.”
“We will not agree with every commissioner on every issue. That is precisely why Congress established a multi-member commission with meaningful representation from both parties.”
