Gigi Sohn

On October 26, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Sohn to serve as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.[13][14] While supported by Senate Democrats, Sohn's nomination was opposed by Republicans, citing her support of Ajit Pai's telecom policies (which had been rolled back by the Trump administration), alleging that she would censor conservative speech, and her past involvement in Locast being a conflict of interest.[15][16][17][18] The Wall Street Journal editorial board additionally criticized her opposition to the acquisition of Tribune Media by Sinclair Broadcast Group.[17] Contrarily, Sohn was endorsed by Chris Ruddy and Robert Harring—the heads of the conservative news channels Newsmax and One America News Network (OANN)—for policy positions on media diversity deemed favorable to independent broadcasters.[15]

Sohn faced intense lobbying and astroturfing efforts from the telecom industry,[19][20] including groups with reported ties such as the League of United Latin American Citizens,[16]Heidi Heitkamp's Democratic PAC One Country Project (which cited inconsistent commitments to rural broadband, and was alleged to have been paid by Comcast in an attempt to flip moderate Democrats),[21][20][18] and the Fraternal Order of Police (which criticized her support of police reform).[22][23][18]

Initial hearings were held before the Senate Commerce Committee on her nomination on December 1, 2021. Sohn's initial nomination stalled in the committee and was returned to Biden on January 3, 2022,[24] after which she was renominated.[11] The committee held a second round of hearings to examine Sohn's nomination on February 9, 2022, with a focus on a previously-undisclosed settlement by Locast that was signed a day after her original nomination was announced. This second hearing fell outside the normal process for re-nomination, which typically does not involve a second hearing.[11] On March 3, 2022, the committee deadlocked on the nomination in a party-line vote. The entire Senate failed to move her out of committee on a discharge petition.

On January 3, 2023, at the conclusion of the 117th Congress, her nomination was again returned to the White House and Sohn was again re-nominated for the post.[25][26] Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell described the lobbying campaigns against Sohn as being a "proxy fight for net neutrality", while veteran television executive Preston Padden (who worked with Sohn and Rupert Murdoch on regulatory matters for Fox) warned that she was ”in danger of falling victim to the worst, and most cynical and baseless smear campaign ever waged against a nominee to serve on the FCC."[27] Consumer Technology Association (CTA) president Gary J. Shapiro suspected that the deadlock was the result of homophobia, as Sohn would have been the first FCC commissioner to be openly gay.[28][29]

On February 14, 2023, the Commerce Committee held a third nomination hearing. On March 7, Sohn withdrew her nomination, citing extensive lobbying and "unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks" against her.[25][26]