Ted Cruz aims to stack FCC with Republicans before Democrats take Senate control

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Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is aiming to widen the Republican majority on the Federal Communications Commission before Democrats take over control of the Senate in January 2027. Just before the Republicans’ midterm loss, Cruz yesterday announced a November 10 nomination hearing for Trump’s FCC nominee, Danielle Thumann Severs.

德克萨斯州共和党参议员泰德·克鲁兹（Ted Cruz）正计划在民主党于2027年1月接管参议院控制权之前，扩大共和党在联邦通信委员会（FCC）的多数席位优势。就在共和党中期选举失利前夕，克鲁兹昨日宣布将于11月10日为特朗普提名的FCC委员人选丹妮尔·图曼·塞弗斯（Danielle Thumann Severs）举行提名听证会。

In his final two months as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Cruz seems set on moving the Thumann Severs nomination to a full vote of the Senate. Confirming Thumann Severs would give Republicans an unusual 3-1 advantage on the FCC. That could become a 3-0 advantage at the end of 2027 because FCC Democrat Anna Gomez would have to leave the commission at that time if Trump does not agree to renominate her.

在担任参议院商务委员会主席的最后两个月里，克鲁兹似乎决心推动图曼·塞弗斯的提名进入参议院全体投票程序。确认图曼·塞弗斯的任命将使共和党在FCC获得罕见的3比1优势。到2027年底，这一优势可能会变成3比0，因为如果特朗普不同意重新提名民主党籍委员安娜·戈麦斯（Anna Gomez），她届时将不得不离开委员会。

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) recently warned that federal law prohibits an all-Republican FCC and that “any action taken by a partisan FCC could be overturned in court, based on the statutory history of the Communications Act.” Wyden wrote in a September 24 letter to Gomez, “Because the Communications Act sets a quorum at three members, there is speculation that the President intends to fire you once [Thumann Severs] is confirmed, attempting to run the agency with an all-Republican 3-0 panel.”

俄勒冈州民主党参议员罗恩·怀登（Ron Wyden）近日警告称，联邦法律禁止出现全由共和党组成的FCC，并表示“基于《通信法》的法定历史，任何由党派色彩浓厚的FCC采取的行动都可能在法庭上被推翻”。怀登在9月24日致戈麦斯的信中写道：“由于《通信法》规定法定人数为三名成员，有猜测称总统打算在[图曼·塞弗斯]获得确认后解雇你，试图通过一个全由共和党人组成的3比0小组来运营该机构。”

“Under an all-Republican commission, every single license renewal, equipment certification, spectrum transfer, or other delegated action would be legally defective, casting a cloud of crippling legal uncertainty over the entire communications industry,” Wyden wrote.

“在全由共和党组成的委员会领导下，每一项执照更新、设备认证、频谱转让或其他授权行动都将在法律上存在缺陷，这将给整个通信行业蒙上一层严重的法律不确定性阴影，”怀登写道。

Trump hasn’t nominated a Democrat. Every FCC commissioner must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. By tradition, the president nominates opposing-party commissioners based on recommendations from the opposing party’s Senate leaders. The bipartisan process has ensured that the FCC’s makeup complies with US law, but Trump hasn’t followed the tradition in his second term. He has failed to nominate a Democrat to the other empty FCC seat and has not renominated Gomez so she can continue past 2027.

特朗普尚未提名民主党人。每一位FCC委员都必须由总统提名并经参议院确认。按照传统，总统会根据反对党参议院领袖的建议提名反对党籍委员。这一两党合作的程序确保了FCC的组成符合美国法律，但特朗普在第二个任期内并未遵循这一传统。他未能提名民主党人填补另一个空缺的FCC席位，也没有重新提名戈麦斯，使其任期能延续至2027年之后。

Gomez today issued a statement calling on Congress to fill the empty FCC seats in a bipartisan manner. “We must rebuild public trust in the FCC by returning the public interest standard to its original meaning as an obligation to communities rather than a tool for political pressure,” Gomez said. “That means defending the First Amendment and a free press from government interference, advancing competitive innovation that smartly protects our communications networks, and delivering real results for consumers.”

戈麦斯今日发表声明，呼吁国会以两党合作的方式填补FCC的空缺席位。戈麦斯表示：“我们必须通过将公共利益标准恢复到其作为对社区义务的原始含义，而不是将其作为政治压力的工具，来重建公众对FCC的信任。这意味着要捍卫第一修正案和新闻自由，使其免受政府干预，推动能够明智地保护我们通信网络的竞争性创新，并为消费者带来实实在在的成果。”

Thumann Severs is an attorney and senior counsel to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. Trump nominated Thumann Severs in August, but a Senate nomination hearing originally scheduled in September was postponed to accommodate her maternity leave. We asked Cruz’s office about plans for Thumann Severs’ confirmation vote and will update this article if we get a response.

图曼·塞弗斯是一名律师，也是FCC主席布伦丹·卡尔（Brendan Carr）的高级法律顾问。特朗普于8月提名了图曼·塞弗斯，但原定于9月举行的参议院提名听证会因她的产假而推迟。我们已向克鲁兹的办公室询问了关于图曼·塞弗斯确认投票的计划，如果收到回复，我们将更新本文。

Maintaining a quorum. The Communications Act requires the FCC to have three members for a quorum. The US law also forbids supermajorities on the FCC by specifying that “the maximum number of commissioners who may be members of the same political party shall be a number equal to the least number of commissioners which constitutes a majority of the full membership of the Commission.”

维持法定人数。《通信法》要求FCC必须有三名成员才能达到法定人数。美国法律还禁止FCC出现绝对多数，规定“属于同一政党的委员人数上限，应等于构成委员会全体成员多数所需的最低委员人数”。

In previous administrations, the president and Senate agreed on paired nominations to ensure that the president’s party maintained a 3-2 advantage. Senate Democrats have been pushing for the Thumann Severs nomination to be paired with a new Democratic nominee so the commission can have a full slate of five members. When it became clear that wouldn’t happen, Democrats asked Trump to at least renominate Gomez in order to maintain a 3-1 split.

在历届政府中，总统和参议院通常会就成对提名达成一致，以确保总统所属政党保持3比2的优势。参议院民主党人一直推动将图曼·塞弗斯的提名与一名新的民主党提名人选挂钩，以便委员会能拥有五名成员的完整阵容。当这一目标显然无法实现时，民主党人要求特朗普至少重新提名戈麦斯，以维持3比1的比例。

Twenty-one Democratic lawmakers on the House Commerce Committee wrote a letter last week to Cruz and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), urging “that any new Republican nominee to the commission be paired with the nomination of a qualified Democratic commissioner, including the renomination of Commissioner Anna M. Gomez to a full term.”

众议院商务委员会的21名民主党议员上周致信克鲁兹和参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩（John Thune，共和党，南达科他州），敦促“任何新的共和党提名人选都应与一名合格的民主党委员提名挂钩，包括重新提名安娜·M·戈麦斯委员担任完整任期”。

The letter continued: The Communications Act limits how many commissioners may belong to one political party, ensuring that decisions on broadband, media ownership, and network security are tested by more than one point of view… Robust disagreement, independent judgment, and deliberation strengthen the commission’s decision-making and provide an important check when the FCC considers policies with far-reaching implications for consumers, competition, and constitutional freedoms.

信中继续写道：《通信法》限制了属于同一政党的委员人数，确保了关于宽带、媒体所有权和网络安全的决策能经过多方观点的检验……激烈的意见分歧、独立的判断和审议加强了委员会的决策能力，并在FCC审议对消费者、竞争和宪法自由具有深远影响的政策时，提供了重要的制衡。

Gomez’s voice of opposition. Gomez can’t prevent any major regulatory actions that Carr’s majority is set on taking, but she has been a consistent voice opposing Carr’s attacks on Trump’s least favorite news organizations and attempts to police speech on broadcast TV. She also has occasionally convinced Carr to make changes to rulemakings that she argued would harm telecom consumers.

戈麦斯的反对声音。戈麦斯无法阻止卡尔多数派决心采取的任何重大监管行动，但她一直是一贯反对卡尔攻击特朗普最不喜欢的媒体机构，以及反对其试图监管广播电视言论的声音。她还曾多次说服卡尔修改她认为会损害电信消费者利益的规则制定。

The Democrats’ letter said Gomez has been a strong advocate for telecom consumer protections, competition, network security, and access to affordable high-speed broadband. “Additionally, the FCC’s licensing and enforcement authority over broadcasters carries real constitutional limits, and Commissioner Gomez has taken that seriously, defending editorial independence and speaking out when she believed that authority was being stretched beyond its proper role,” Democrats wrote.

民主党人的信中称，戈麦斯一直是电信消费者保护、竞争、网络安全以及获取负担得起的高速宽带的坚定倡导者。民主党人写道：“此外，FCC对广播公司的许可和执法权力具有真正的宪法限制，戈麦斯委员对此非常重视，她捍卫编辑独立性，并在认为该权力被过度延伸超出其应有角色时直言不讳。”

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. Severs would not replace Gomez because Trump nominated Thumann Severs to fill a different seat in a term expiring in 2029. If the Senate confirms Thumann Severs during the lame-duck session, it would be reminiscent of the December 2020 confirmation of Trump nominee.

戈麦斯的任期在技术上已于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。塞弗斯不会取代戈麦斯，因为特朗普提名图曼·塞弗斯是为了填补另一个任期至2029年届满的席位。如果参议院在“跛脚鸭”会期期间确认图曼·塞弗斯的任命，这将令人想起2020年12月对特朗普提名人选的确认。