OTI Urges Schumer to Schedule Votes for FCC and FTC Nominees

Today, the Senate Commerce Committee advanced the nominations of Gigi Sohn to the Federal Communications Commission and Alvaro Bedoya to the Federal Trade Commission. Sohn and Bedoya are highly respected public interest advocates with support from hundreds of groups and individuals from across the political spectrum, including OTI. Their confirmations would bring the FCC and FTC to full capacity for the first time since January 2021. Both agencies are currently deadlocked 2-2.

The following quote can be attributed to Joshua Stager, deputy director for broadband and competition policy at New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“It was great to see Senator Lujan return to the Senate Commerce Committee today and immediately get to work breaking the deadlocks at our consumer protection agencies. We wish him well in his continued recovery and thank him for his urgent dedication to this important work.

“Now it’s time for Majority Leader Schumer to get to work. He needs to schedule floor votes for Ms. Sohn and Mr. Bedoya immediately. The American people cannot afford to wait any longer. It’s been more than a year since we had a fully functioning FCC and FTC. These agencies oversee some of the nation’s most problematic companies, including AT&T, Comcast, and Facebook.

“Ms. Sohn and Mr. Bedoya will hit the ground running once confirmed. The United States Senate is the only remaining hurdle. It’s time for Leader Schumer to get this done.”