The Senate is set to vote on President Joe Biden's nominee for the Federal Communications Commission, moving to fill a role that has been open for three years and give Democratic appointees a majority at the agency, likely restarting the debate over net neutrality.

FCC nominee Anna Gomez is scheduled to be voted on by the Senate on Thursday. Gomez was nominated in May after the previous nominee, public interest advocate and scholar Gigi Sohn, withdrew. If Gomez is approved, it would give FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel the votes necessary to enact net neutrality, a legal principle demanding that internet service providers treat all data equally and not discriminate based on their source or destination.

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The Senate is scheduled for a procedural vote regarding Gomez on Thursday morning, which could lead to a final vote in the early afternoon. Gomez's approval would fill a role left unfilled for the last three years and give Democrats enough votes to pass new rules.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, has been critical of Gomez. He said he was unsure Gomez had "the independence and regulatory humility necessary for confirmation" and criticized her for failing "to disavow heavy-handed net neutrality rules." However, his attacks on her have been significantly less aggressive than Republican attacks on Sohn.

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Gomez stated she would support reclassifying the internet as Title II, making internet service providers "common carriers." This would allow the FCC to implement additional regulations over ISPs, including net neutrality.

Gomez served 12 years at the FCC as the deputy chief of its international bureau and head of the bureau overseeing landlines. She has also worked at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and as Sprint's vice president of government affairs.