President Joe Biden named a new candidate to join the Federal Communications Commission, a move to break the 2-2 tie that has limited the agency for years and pursue Democratic priorities such as net neutrality.
Biden announced on Tuesday that he was appointing Anna Gomez as its candidate to fill the fifth seat on the FCC. Gomez served for 12 years at the FCC as the deputy chief of its international bureau and chief of the bureau overseeing landlines. She has also served within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and as Sprint's vice president of government affairs. If Gomez is appointed, she could be the necessary vote to establish net neutrality, a principle ensuring that all internet providers provide equal access to all websites.
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"Anna Gomez's deep knowledge across the breadth of issues before the FCC makes her exceptionally qualified to be a Commissioner," Comcast Chief Legal Officer Tom Reid said in a statement responding to her appointment.
"For far too long, the Biden administration and Senate leaders have left us without a full, five-person FCC while important issues are in front of the agency," Chris Lewis, the president of the public interest group Public Knowledge, said in a statement. "Anna Gomez has deep, demonstrated experience working for the public on telecommunications and technology issues."
Gomez is the administration's replacement for Gigi Sohn, the previous appointee to be considered for the position. Sohn was a public interest advocate Biden had pushed for over three years to break the 2-2 deadlock. Republican lawmakers opposed Sohn's appointment, alleging she is a left-wing ideologue who favors heavy-handed regulation, censorship of conservatives, and net neutrality.
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Sohn withdrew her appointment in March, stating she was disappointed that "dominant industries, with assistance from unlimited dark money, get to choose their regulators."