Gigi Sohn withdraws from consideration to head FCC

Wedding in August 2007

Biden’s Controversial Nominee Finally Calls It Quits!

The withdrawal of Gigi Sohn‘s nomination to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been hailed as a major victory for Republicans and a strong reminder of the importance of bipartisanship.

The Biden administration had nominated Sohn in October 2021, but the nomination was met with opposition from both sides of the aisle, as well as from cable and media industry lobbyists. The announcement of her withdrawal came after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said that he would vote against her, costing Democrats a crucial vote if her nomination made it to the floor.

Sohn had been one of the chief architects of net neutrality under the Obama administration, a policy which was reversed by the free-market types who ran the FCC under former President Donald Trump. This record, and her social media posts, made it difficult for the Senate to hold a floor vote on her confirmation.

In a statement, Ms. Sohn said she was withdrawing because of attacks on her record as an advocate that she said came from “legions of cable and media industry lobbyists, their bought-and-paid-for surrogates, and dark money political groups.”

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