Sohn Withdraws FCC Nomination

• Gigi Sohn, President Biden’s long-languishing nominee to serve as FCC Commissioner is withdrawing her nomination, following a bitter 16-month lobbying battle that blocked her appointment and opened her up to relentless personal attacks.

Sohn is a longtime public interest advocate who served as counselor to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheelerduring President Obama‘s second term and was initially nominated by the White House back in October 2021. She said her decision to withdraw her nomination follows “unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks” seeded by cable and media industry lobbyists. The announcement is a defeat for consumer advocates, who had rallied behind Sohn during three Senate confirmation hearings.

As The Washington Post reports, Sohn’s withdrawal is also “a devastating blow to the Biden administration, whose ambitious internet agenda has been mired in limbo for more than two years, amid a deadlock at the FCC.”

“It is a sad day for our country and our democracy when dominant industries, with assistance from unlimited dark money, get to choose their regulators,” Sohn said in a statement shared exclusively with The Washington Post. “And with the help of their friends in the Senate, the powerful cable and media companies have done just that.”

During Tuesday’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House did not have any updates at this time on future nominees, commenting only, “We appreciate Gigi Sohn’s candidacy for this important role. She would have brought tremendous intellect and experience, which is why the president nominated her in the first place.”