Plus Pages

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Senate Vote On FCC Nominee Sohn Expected After Easter Recess

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday night opened a path to break a deadlock and force a confirmation vote on the nomination of Alvaro Bedoya to the Federal Trade Commission.

Gigi Sohn
Bloomberg reports the vote, scheduled for Wednesday, would bring Bedoya’s nomination out of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, where it has been blocked by committee Republicans for months.

Schumer’s move allows Democrats to side-step a committee deadlock. They used the same maneuver earlier Tuesday to advance Federal Reserve nominee Lisa Cook.

A final confirmation vote, however, won’t likely take place until after the Senate’s two-week Easter recess, as Schumer plans to spend next week on confirming Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Another deadlocked appointee, Gigi Sohn, is expected to be advanced through similar methods. Her nomination to the Federal Communications Commission has also been stalled along party lines in the Senate Commerce Committee.

Bedoya’s confirmation as an FTC commissioner would cement the agency’s Democratic majority and facilitate Chair Lina Khan’s progressive agenda. The agency is expected to toughen rules on mergers and data privacy. The five-member commission has been split 2-2 between Democrats and Republicans since October, limiting Khan’s power to bring cases.

For more: Amazon’s FTC Nemesis Is Dealt a Setback on MGM Deal -- for Now

This restriction was on full display earlier this month as Amazon.com Inc. closed its acquisition of movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer without intervention from the FTC. The agency has suggested that it could still challenge the Amazon-MGM deal.

No comments:

Post a Comment