After 10 days with only two members, the Senate confirmed Republican Olivia Trusty to the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday.
That brings the total number of commissioners up to three, ending a brief period where the FCC didn’t meet the quorum threshold for what’s typically a five-person panel. In a one-week period at the beginning of June, Republican Nathan Simington and Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks both resigned from the FCC. Trusty was previously a staffer for Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS).
Republican Chair Brendan Carr has driven an unprecedented shift in telecommunications policy in his six months leading the FCC. Since 1996, the commission has generally advanced the goal of faster and cheaper technology through competition. Carr has taken a decidedly more political approach, using the FCC to punish Trump’s enemies and reward his friends.
Carr has opened an investigation into CBS over a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, threatened Comcast’s broadcast licenses over MSNBC’s political coverage and pressured Verizon’s DEI policies in order to gain approval for its acquisition of Frontier.
“In normal times, there’d be little reason to oppose the confirmation of a candidate as qualified as Trusty. But these are not normal times,” said Matt Wood, VP of policy and general counsel of the nonpartisan Free Press Action, in a statement.
“Trusty’s confirmation gives Carr the majority he needs to radically reshape the media sector in Trump’s image, including offering policy favors to large broadcasters in exchange for their unwavering loyalty to the president.”
The biggest immediate question is whether Trusty will vote with Carr on these issues or like a more traditional Republican commissioner.
“I think she is a reliable vote for Carr on most issues, but not all issues,” Blair Levin, a former FCC chief of staff and a telecom industry analyst at New Street Research, told CNET.
Trump has not yet selected two other nominees to fill the FCC’s two vacant seats, and there’s no sign that he will anytime soon. FCC rules state that only three commissioners can be of the same political party at any given time.
“I think those two seats stay vacant for a very long time,” Levin said. “I don’t see why Trump wants to use any political capital or Senate time — certainly not before the budget bill passes. Trump has all the power that he needs at the FCC.”
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