Senate Discharge Vote on Bedoya Likely This Week; Sohn Timing Unclear

The Senate appeared highly likely Tuesday to vote this week on discharging Democratic FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya from the Commerce Committee’s jurisdiction, lawmakers and aides told us. The chamber may also do a discharge vote this week on FCC nominee Gigi Sohn, but that’s less likely since leadership is prioritizing action on Bedoya over her, officials said. Senate leaders previously eyed initial votes on Bedoya and Sohn last week (see 2203220058) but scuttled that plan when it was clear all 50 chamber Democrats wouldn’t be present to ensure their advancement.

The Senate will “hopefully” at least get to a discharge vote on Bedoya this week since all 50 Democrats were present on the floor Monday and Tuesday, said Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Tuesday: A similar vote on Sohn will happen “soon,” but whether it occurs this week will depend on “how much we can get done.” The chamber voted 50-49 Tuesday to discharge the Banking Committee’s jurisdiction over Federal Reserve board nominee Lisa Cook, who like Bedoya and Sohn drew a panel-level tied vote along party lines (see 2203030070).

“We have to have all 50” Democrats available and “didn’t have the votes” on the floor to advance either Bedoya or Sohn earlier this year amid a spate of caucus members’ absences, Cantwell said. Those included several Democratic senators who had COVID-19 and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico while he recovered from a stroke. Three Democrats absent all or part of last week -- Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Joe Manchin of West Virginia -- returned Monday.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., told us Monday the presence of all 50 Democrats on the Hill makes it likely a vote on at least Bedoya will happen “later this week.” All Senate Republicans are likely to vote against Bedoya and Sohn, but in a 50-50 split Vice President Kamala Harris will cast the tiebreaker favor of both nominees.

“I want a robust FTC” with a 3-2 Democratic majority in place to take additional action on privacy and antitrust matters, Cantwell said. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other leaders faced pressure to prioritize votes on Bedoya amid hopes a majority-Democratic commission will challenge Amazon’s $8.5 billion buy of MGM, lobbyists said. Amazon closed on the MGM buy earlier this month (see 2203170007).

A Schumer spokesperson contradicted a New York Post report that he was slowing down action on Bedoya because the majority leader's daughter, Jessica, is a registered lobbyist for Amazon in New York. Schumer’s “track record of placing pro-consumer watchdogs in key regulatory positions, along with his support for stringent anti-trust review, puts him at the very forefront of protecting consumers and regulating big business,” the spokesperson said.

Sohn’s backers are continuing to press for Senate action, including a campaign by the Media and Democracy Project urging its supporters to press for her confirmation “before the April recess” that’s to begin at the end of next week. Former Agriculture Department Rural Utilities Service Administrator Chad Rupe argued in a Daily Yonder opinion piece “Sohn is dedicated to ensuring that everyone in rural America is connected.”

The possibility of a 3-2 Democratic FCC majority didn’t factor into written testimony from GOP Commissioner Brendan Carr posted Tuesday before a planned Thursday House Communications Subcommittee agency oversight hearing (see 2203240043). The FCC has “been busy taking bipartisan actions that address the affordability portion of the digital divide,” including a January 4-0 vote to establish rules for the $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program, Carr says. The commission “has also come together to further secure our communications networks from entities that threaten our national security.” The FCC added Russian cybersecurity powerhouse Kaspersky Lab and two Chinese companies to its list of equipment suppliers deemed to present national security concerns earlier this week (see 2203250067).

“Serving on a divided Commission has taught me the fundamentally non-partisan nature of the work of an expert agency,” FCC Republican Nathan Simington says in his written testimony for the hearing. “Working on fair allocation of regulatory fees or construction of spectrum auction rules is simply outside of partisan considerations -- politics has no natural home in these matters at all.”