
Senate Republicans have again dug in their heels against President Biden's nominee to fill the vacant fifth seat on the Federal Communications Commission, reflecting what some Democrats call a smear campaign directed at a lesbian woman with progressive politics. During a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee, FCC nominee Gigi Sohn faced a third round of Republican-led criticism — but embraced the moment to denounce the role of dark money groups in the ongoing smear campaign against her.
Sohn, a board member at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a left-leaning internet advocacy group, would unfreeze the FCC's current 2-2 partisan deadlock and secure Democrats a 3-2 majority.