Almost 250 Groups Urge Senate Vote on Sohn Confirmation 'Before Congress Adjourns'

been stalled since March but her Hill supporters believe her approval prospects will improve once the Senate returns in November for the lame-duck session (see 2209130065). “We simply cannot have a less-than fully functioning” 2-2 FCC “persist any longer,” the groups said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; and ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss. A five-member FCC is needed “as it begins to deliberate on upcoming critical decisions that will have profound impacts on the economy and the American people.” The “agency will benefit from Ms. Sohn’s involvement as it works to expand work and business opportunities to Americans in unserved and underserved areas” via funding for broadband deployments, the groups said. Free Press Action Policy Director Joshua Stager, meanwhile, criticized Comcast over reports it hired former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to lobby against Sohn’s confirmation. Daschle and Baker Donelson said in July Comcast paid them $30,000 in Q2 to lobby on the “status of FCC nominations,” among other matters. The company previously received criticism for hiring lobbyists at other firms to lobby against Sohn (see 2206030059). “It’s outrageous that such underhanded tactics have kept people without the policies and protections they need to connect and communicate,” Stager said: “Sohn has a well-earned reputation for bipartisanship and consensus-building, which is why she has been endorsed by such a wide array of people and organizations from across the political spectrum.” Comcast didn’t comment.