Trump to give Republicans a 3-1 FCC majority, isn’t filling empty Democratic seat

特朗普将使共和党在联邦通信委员会（FCC）获得 3-1 多数席位，且暂不填补民主党空缺

The Federal Communications Commission has been shorthanded throughout President Trump’s second term, but it’s about to get a new commissioner. Unsurprisingly, Trump is breaking a historical norm with a nomination that would give Republicans a 3-1 advantage on the FCC. 在特朗普总统的第二个任期内，联邦通信委员会（FCC）一直处于人手不足的状态，但现在即将迎来一位新委员。不出所料，特朗普打破了历史惯例，其提名将使共和党在 FCC 获得 3-1 的优势。

Historically, the president and Senate worked together to ensure that the president’s party maintained only a one-vote majority. Normally, the president’s party has three FCC members while the minority party has two. Instead of the typical 3-2 split, the FCC has operated with a 2-1 Republican majority during Trump’s second term. 从历史上看，总统和参议院通常会共同努力，确保总统所属政党仅保持一票的多数优势。通常情况下，总统所属政党拥有三名 FCC 委员，而少数党拥有两名。在特朗普的第二个任期内，FCC 并未维持典型的 3-2 分割，而是以 2-1 的共和党多数席位运作。

On Friday, Trump nominated Republican Danielle Thumann Severs to take one of the empty spots. Thumann Severs, a lawyer, has been working as FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s senior counsel. She must be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate before being sworn in as a commissioner. 周五，特朗普提名共和党人丹妮尔·图曼·塞弗斯（Danielle Thumann Severs）填补其中一个空缺。图曼·塞弗斯是一名律师，此前一直担任 FCC 主席布伦丹·卡尔（Brendan Carr）的高级法律顾问。在宣誓就任委员之前，她必须获得由共和党控制的参议院的确认。

The FCC has played a leading role in Trump’s attacks on news broadcasters, with Carr using his position to investigate and threaten the licenses of broadcasters that don’t provide coverage favorable to Trump. A third Republican to cast votes at commission meetings will give Carr more support for his policies. FCC 在特朗普针对新闻广播机构的攻击中发挥了主导作用，卡尔利用其职权调查并威胁那些报道对特朗普不利的广播机构的执照。在委员会会议上增加第三名共和党投票人，将为卡尔的政策提供更多支持。

Every FCC commissioner must be confirmed by the Senate after receiving a nomination from the president. Even commissioners in the minority party need a presidential nomination. If Trump followed the historical norm, he would have nominated one Republican and one Democrat to the FCC so they could be confirmed by the Senate simultaneously. 每一位 FCC 委员在获得总统提名后，都必须经过参议院确认。即使是少数党委员也需要总统提名。如果特朗普遵循历史惯例，他本应提名一名共和党人和一名民主党人进入 FCC，以便他们能同时获得参议院确认。

Presidents typically nominate commissioners from the opposing party based on recommendations from the other party. That’s what Trump did in his first term when he nominated Democrat Geoffrey Starks based on a recommendation from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. 总统通常会根据对方政党的建议提名反对党委员。特朗普在第一任期内就是这样做的，当时他根据参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默（Chuck Schumer）的建议，提名了民主党人杰弗里·斯塔克斯（Geoffrey Starks）。

Since the FCC needs only three members for a quorum, adding a third Republican raises the possibility that Trump will fire the FCC’s only Democrat and give his party a 3-0 advantage. But stocking the commission with only Republicans would violate a law that prohibits any party from having an FCC supermajority, which could put the FCC’s decisions at greater risk of being blocked in court. 由于 FCC 只需三名成员即可达到法定人数，增加第三名共和党人引发了一种可能性：特朗普可能会解雇 FCC 中唯一的民主党人，从而使其政党获得 3-0 的优势。但如果委员会中全是共和党人，将违反禁止任何政党在 FCC 拥有绝对多数席位的法律，这可能使 FCC 的决策在法庭上被否决的风险增加。

Senate Democrat: “That will be a problem”

参议院民主党人：“那将是个问题”

While the Senate’s Republican majority can confirm Thumann Severs without any Democratic support, doing so without a paired Democratic nomination will result in a contentious confirmation process. Senate Democrats want Thumann Severs to be paired with a Democratic nominee so the commission can have a full slate of five members. But it doesn’t appear that Trump will nominate a Democrat for the fifth spot. 虽然参议院的共和党多数派可以在没有任何民主党支持的情况下确认图曼·塞弗斯的提名，但在没有配套民主党提名的情况下这样做，将导致充满争议的确认过程。参议院民主党人希望图曼·塞弗斯的提名能与一名民主党提名人“打包”进行，以便委员会能凑齐五名成员。但目前看来，特朗普似乎不会为第五个席位提名民主党人。

“That will be a problem. We want pairing,” Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) told Politico on Friday. Cantwell is the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, which will consider the nomination before it goes to a full Senate vote. The committee is chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas.), who told Politico that “we will assess the nomination on its merits.” “那将是个问题。我们希望进行配套提名，”参议员玛丽亚·坎特韦尔（Maria Cantwell，华盛顿州民主党人）周五告诉《政客》（Politico）。坎特韦尔是参议院商务委员会的民主党领袖，该委员会将在提名提交参议院全体投票前进行审议。该委员会由参议员泰德·克鲁兹（Ted Cruz，得克萨斯州共和党人）担任主席，他告诉《政客》：“我们将根据提名本身的优劣进行评估。”

Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), the top Democrat on the telecommunications and media subcommittee, was quoted as saying that “if President Trump wants to fill these positions, he should do them in a bipartisan way. I would certainly hope my Republican colleagues on the committee want to see some semblance of balance as well. Because who’s going to be the next president?” 电信和媒体小组委员会的民主党领袖、参议员本·雷·卢扬（Ben Ray Luján，新墨西哥州民主党人）表示：“如果特朗普总统想要填补这些职位，他应该以两党合作的方式进行。我当然希望委员会中的共和党同事也能看到某种程度的平衡。因为谁会是下一任总统呢？”

Shortly after his second term began, Trump declared sweeping power over historically independent agencies and fired both Democrats from the Federal Trade Commission. The Supreme Court upheld the FTC firing in a decision that solidified Trump’s power over an agency that historically was not under the direct control of the president. The FTC currently has just two commissioners, both Republicans, and three vacant seats. 在第二个任期开始后不久，特朗普宣布对历史上独立的机构拥有广泛权力，并解雇了联邦贸易委员会（FTC）的两名民主党委员。最高法院在一项裁决中支持了 FTC 的解雇行为，巩固了特朗普对一个历史上不受总统直接控制的机构的权力。目前 FTC 仅有两名委员，均为共和党人，且有三个席位空缺。

Trump has resisted firing FCC’s only Democrat

特朗普尚未解雇 FCC 中唯一的民主党人

The Supreme Court ruling on the FTC raised speculation that Trump would fire the FCC’s one Democrat, Anna Gomez, and have the FCC be run by Republicans only. But Gomez has still not been fired despite being a consistent critic of the Trump FCC’s attacks on news broadcasters and gutting of broadband consumer rules. Gomez issued a statement congratulating Thumann Severs on Friday and said, “I look forward to continuing our work together, hopefully soon with a full commission of five, the way this agency was built to operate.” 最高法院关于 FTC 的裁决引发了人们的猜测，即特朗普可能会解雇 FCC 中唯一的民主党人安娜·戈麦斯（Anna Gomez），让 FCC 完全由共和党人掌控。尽管戈麦斯一直批评特朗普领导下的 FCC 对新闻广播机构的攻击以及对宽带消费者规则的削弱，但她至今尚未被解雇。戈麦斯周五发表声明祝贺图曼·塞弗斯，并表示：“我期待继续我们共同的工作，希望很快能拥有五名成员的完整委员会，这才是该机构成立时的运作方式。”

Carr issued a statement congratulating Thumann Severs but did not express any wish for a five-member commission. 卡尔发表声明祝贺图曼·塞弗斯，但并未表达任何关于五人委员会的愿望。

New Street Research analyst Blair Levin, who was the FCC’s chief of staff from 1993 to 1997, did not expect Trump to fire Gomez and leave the agency with only two commissioners because that would have prevented the FCC from having a three-member quorum. Now that Trump has proposed filling one of the FCC’s empty seats, Levin told Ars on Monday that he does not think Trump will appoint a Democrat to fill the other empty seat. 曾于 1993 年至 1997 年担任 FCC 幕僚长的 New Street Research 分析师布莱尔·莱文（Blair Levin）此前并不认为特朗普会解雇戈麦斯并让该机构仅剩两名委员，因为这将导致 FCC 无法达到三人的法定人数。现在特朗普提议填补 FCC 的一个空缺席位，莱文周一告诉 Ars，他认为特朗普不会任命民主党人来填补另一个空缺。

Levin said Trump could nominate another commissioner who is not a Democrat, yet “qualifies as a non-Republican,” though Levin does not think this is a likely scenario. Nominating a fifth commissioner who is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, but who supports the Carr and Trump agenda, could effectively give Trump a 4-1 majority without technically violating the law prohibiting an FCC supermajority. 莱文表示，特朗普可能会提名另一位既非民主党人，又“符合非共和党人身份”的委员，尽管莱文认为这种情况不太可能发生。提名第五位既不是共和党人也不是民主党人，但支持卡尔和特朗普议程的委员，实际上可以在不违反禁止 FCC 绝对多数席位法律的情况下，让特朗普获得 4-1 的优势。

Another wrinkle is that Gomez’s term technically expired on June 30. US law allows her to serve until the end of 2027 or until the Senate confirms a replacement, whichever comes first. Gomez would need a renomination from Trump and confirmation from the Senate to continue past 2027, or she could be replaced earlier. 另一个复杂之处在于，戈麦斯的任期实际上已于 6 月 30 日届满。美国法律允许她任职至 2027 年底或直到参议院确认继任者，以先到者为准。戈麦斯需要特朗普的重新提名和参议院的确认才能在 2027 年之后继续任职，否则她可能会被提前更换。

Hypothetically, Trump could aim for a 3-0 advantage or replace Gomez with someone “who qualifies as a non-Republican” and give Republicans a 3-1 FCC majority in which the minority member is from a third party or is an independent. 从假设的角度来看，特朗普可能会寻求 3-0 的优势，或者用一个“符合非共和党人身份”的人取代戈麦斯，从而使共和党在 FCC 获得 3-1 的多数席位，其中少数党成员来自第三方或为独立人士。