Biden Nominates First Woman FCC Chair

On Tuesday, October 27, the Biden administration named Jessica Rosenworcel and Gigi Sohn to top Federal Communications Commission (FCC) positions in a late bid to stave off a Republican majority over the regulator.

Rosenworcel, if confirmed, will be the first woman permanent chair of the agency. Sohn would become the first openly LGBTIQ+ Commissioner.

Jessica Rosenworcel presently serves as Chair of the Federal Communications Commission, where she previously served as a Commissioner since 2012. During her time at the agency, she has worked to promote greater opportunity, accessibility, and affordability in our communications services in order to ensure that all Americans get a fair shot at 21st century success, the Whitehouse said in a statement.

A group of 25 Senators wrote to Biden last month urging him to install Rosenworcel as permanent chair.

“We represent 17 states and a wide range of political and policy views, but one thing we have in common is a belief that there is no better qualified or more competent person to lead the FCC at this important time than Acting Chair Rosenworcel,” the lawmakers wrote. “Importantly, we believe that Acting Chair Rosenworcel will face few obstacles to her confirmation” reported CNBC.

Prior to joining the agency, she served as Senior Communications Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, under the leadership of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV and Senator Daniel Inouye. Before entering public service, Jessica practiced communications law. She is a native of Hartford, Connecticut and a graduate of Wesleyan University and New York University School of Law. She lives with her family in Washington, DC.

The advocacy group Free Press urged Congress to swiftly confirm the nominees so that the agency could advance Democrats’ telecom priorities.

“While these choices were worth the wait, there’s no time to waste and so much to get done: ensuring the billions being invested in broadband actually reach those who need it most, restoring Net Neutrality and Title II, reckoning with media regulators’ history on race and repairing the damage of the Trump years,” Free Press president and co-CEO Craig Aaron said in a statement.