March Senate Commerce Vote on Sohn in Doubt Over Wavering Democrats

Senate Commerce Committee leaders are still eyeing a vote on FCC nominee Gigi Sohn during mid-to-late March, but the situation remains in doubt amid questions about whether undecided panel Democrats Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Jon Tester of Montana will reach a decision on backing the embattled nominee, said lawmakers and others in interviews. Other Commerce Democrats remain strongly supportive of Sohn and believe she effectively countered GOP criticism during her Feb. 14 confirmation hearing (see 2302140077). Sohn’s Capitol Hill supporters believe it’s important that Senate Commerce swiftly advance her out of the committee, with some arguing any further delay could lead to her confirmation process stalling again as it did in 2021 and 2022 (see 2212300044).

“We would like to” have Senate Commerce vote on Sohn before the chamber leaves again for a recess the weeks of April 3 and 10, Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said in an interview. “We’ve got to talk to our members, look at the committee schedule and see, but I’m hoping we can do that sometime this month” if possible. Cantwell is considering whether to pair votes on Sohn and FAA administrator nominee Phil Washington, lobbyists said.

Commerce’s executive sessions usually happen Wednesdays, so since such a meeting isn’t set for this week, the most likely days for it to happen would be March 15 or 22, lobbyists said. Sohn apparently already sent Senate Commerce her responses to panel members’ post-hearing questions, a procedural prerequisite to a committee vote, said a communications sector lobbyist who follows Democratic deliberations. Sohn’s responses weren’t available Friday.

Rosen and Tester separately told us last week they remain undecided on Sohn after reviewing her testimony from last month's confirmation hearing. Lobbyists are also closely monitoring whether Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., is wavering on Sohn, though there have been no specific indications she shifted position. All three backed Sohn in 2022 when Senate Commerce tied 14-14 on her confirmation (see 2203030070), albeit after originally being undecided. The trio face potentially competitive reelection fights in 2024.

Sinema’s office didn’t comment on whether she still backs Sohn. All 14 Democratic-aligned Commerce members would need to back Sohn for the committee to outright advance the nominee to the chamber floor since all 13 Republicans are expected to oppose her. Another tied vote would mean the Senate would need to vote to discharge Sohn from Commerce’s jurisdiction before the chamber could hold final confirmation votes. Non-Commerce Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia also remain undecided on Sohn, meaning the nominee would face additional confirmation hurdles even if the committee advances her to the floor.

Rosen said she has “not yet” determined whether Sohn’s statements countering criticisms from law enforcement groups satisfy her that the nominee isn’t anti-police. Tester said he's still deciding: “I just want to make sure she’s ready for rural America.” Tester, like Rosen and other wavering Democrats, is concerned by the opposition from the Fraternal Order of Police, National Sheriffs’ Association and other law enforcement groups. The senators’ offices didn’t comment on whether they plan to meet with Sohn to discuss their concerns.

Tester’s renewed skepticism also stems from concerns about Sohn’s donations to some Democratic senators’ reelection campaigns and the Coalition of Large Tribes’ claims about her treatment of tribal officials while she was an aide to then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (see 2208300058), lobbyists said. Democratic Montana state Rep. Marvin Weathermax, COLT’s chairman, repeated the group’s concerns about Sohn in a Feb. 19 Missoulian opinion piece. Sohn and her supporters repeatedly called criticisms of her donations to Senate Democrats overblown and said COLT’s claims about her record on tribal issues are false.

'Entrenched' Dynamics

“I don’t know” whether Senate Commerce Democrats will try for a vote on Sohn this month, but it will ultimately be up to Cantwell to decide whether it’s worth pursuing, said ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “I don’t think” Sohn “has the votes to be confirmed on the floor of the Senate, and she may well not have the votes to be voted out of committee.” He remains “puzzled about why” the Biden administration “is wasting the Senate’s time with a nominee who has very little realistic chance of being confirmed.”

“I assume” Senate Commerce Democrats will “try” to advance Sohn “at some point, but I don’t know when that is,” said Communications Subcommittee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D. “It’s pretty clear that the administration and the Democrats want to force the issue” given President Joe Biden’s insistence on renominating Sohn a third time (see 2301030060), but “they’re probably trying to get votes” solidified before scheduling an executive session.

“Everybody’s pretty well entrenched” on Sohn at this point, but “there are a few Democrats ... who have concerns and had concerns last time around, which is why” the Senate never held floor votes on her last year, Thune said in an earlier interview. “I’m hoping that those Democrats will hold their ground under the pressure they’re getting from the administration, because they’re on the right side” by not supporting Sohn.

“The Senate will determine the particulars of the process, but Sohn is strongly qualified to serve” on the FCC, Olivia Dalton, White House principal deputy press secretary, emailed us.

Sohn is still “the right nominee at the right time,” despite her opponents’ repeated attempts at character assassination, said Senate Commerce member Ed Markey, D-Mass., who was among the nominee’s strongest defenders during the Feb. 14 hearing. “I think if we press forward and we work hard, then we can still find the votes” to advance her out of committee and confirm her on the Senate floor. “Once we schedule a vote” on Sohn, “then all of the issues” Rosen and Tester have with the nominee’s record “will get clarified and it will be obvious that the contentions being lodged against her are just red herrings,” Markey said.

Senate Commerce member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, isn’t sure whether Sohn has the votes to make it out of committee, but the chamber should “just get on with” her confirmation process after repeated stalls. Sohn’s opponents “have tried to demonize her, but she’s a human being, and she’s very well qualified” to be an FCC commissioner, Schatz said.

A Senate Commerce vote to advance Sohn needs to happen “sooner rather than later" since "it’s been more than 15 months” since Biden first nominated her, said Public Knowledge Government Affairs Director Greg Guice. “I don’t think anything has changed” fundamentally about what’s known about Sohn’s record that would cause either Rosen or Tester to switch back to being undecided about her confirmation, but “calling a vote” on Sohn “will help them in doing their homework to make their decision. A lot of senators don’t talk about their vote until” it happens. “There was clearly a well-organized campaign to misconstrue and obfuscate” Sohn’s record, “which probably gave it more weight than it should have,” he said: “It’s really just a matter of having the process happen, so the next step is a vote.”