The Federal Communications Commission normally has five commissioners, with the current president's party holding three of them. But since January 2021, there has been a 2-2 party split, so the Democrat Chairman, Jessica Rosenworcel, has been without a majority to get the agency to adopt orders to which the two Republicans would not concur.
That may soon change. On May 22, President Biden nominated Democrat Anna Gomez to fill the fifth seat, and she could be confirmed by the Senate in the coming weeks.
If she is, look for the FCC quickly to take actions to create a much more regulatory environment in which Internet service providers (ISPs), like Comcast, AT&T, T-Mobile, and hundreds of others, must operate – a regulatory regime so stringent that it is likely to suppress investment in broadband networks and innovation in Internet services and applications.
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