Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has scheduled a Wednesday, Nov. 18 vote on the confirmation of Danielle Thumann Severs, a Republican nominee to the FCC.
If confirmed, she would become the commission’s fourth member. The FCC typically has five commissioners; her appointment would give Republicans a 3–1 majority, with Democrat Anna Gomez as the sole Democratic member.
Thumann Severs, a senior legal adviser to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, appeared Tuesday before the Senate Commerce Committee in a hearing that at times grew contentious. Democrats accused her of evading their questions. Though she was one of four nominees questioned during the nearly two-hour session, she received about three-quarters of the questions.
The Committee to Protect Journalists voiced similar concerns Wednesday, calling for bipartisan FCC nominees.
“Americans trust the Federal Communications Commission to act as an independent, bipartisan agency that upholds the First Amendment,” said José Zamora, the organization’s regional director for the Americas. “The Senate must ensure the FCC upholds that trust by not allowing a partisan nomination to move forward.”
At Tuesday’s hearing, Democrats pressed Thumann Severs on allegations that Carr had exceeded his authority in addressing broadcasters’ First Amendment rights. She said she was committed to ensuring broadcasters act “in the public interest,” but Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) criticized her for not answering more directly.
Cruz has also criticized Carr’s call for an investigation into ABC’s broadcast licenses after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel joked about Melania Trump on his show earlier this year. “It is not government’s job to censor speech, and I do not believe the FCC should operate as the speech police,” Cruz told Punchbowl News in late April.