Cruz moves to add another Republican to US communications regulator before Democrats take Senate
Senator Ted Cruz has scheduled a November 10 hearing for Trump's Federal Communications Commission nominee, Danielle Thumann Severs. Her confirmation would give Republicans a 3-1 edge on the commission before Democrats take over the Senate in January.
US Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is seeking to widen the Republican majority on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the US regulator overseeing the communications industry, before Democrats take control of the Senate in January 2027. Cruz, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, has announced a November 10 hearing for President Donald Trump's FCC nominee, Danielle Thumann Severs. The announcement came just after the Republicans' midterm loss.
During his last two months as committee chairman, Cruz appears intent on moving the nomination to a vote of the full Senate.
What it would mean for the commission
Confirming Thumann Severs would give Republicans an unusual 3-1 advantage on the FCC. That could become 3-0 at the end of 2027, since FCC Democrat Anna Gomez would have to leave the commission then unless Trump renominates her.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has recently warned that federal law bars an all-Republican FCC. In a September 24 letter to Gomez, he said any action by a partisan commission could be overturned in court. Because the Communications Act sets a quorum at three members, he wrote, there is speculation that the president intends to fire Gomez once the nominee is confirmed and run the agency with three Republicans. Wyden argued that every license renewal, equipment certification, spectrum transfer or other delegated action would then be legally defective.
Tradition not followed
Every FCC commissioner must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. By tradition, the president nominates opposing-party commissioners on the recommendation of that party's Senate leaders. This bipartisan process has kept the commission's makeup in line with US law. Trump has not followed the tradition in his second term: he has not nominated a Democrat to the other vacant seat and has not renominated Gomez so she can serve beyond 2027.
