The Profile

The relegated regulator: Why Biden’s nominee for the FCC is facing unusual levels of opposition

Gigi Sohn has been trying to secure the fifth, and last, position on the US Federal Communications Commission for the last 15 months, but the openly gay Joe Biden nominee says her delayed appointment has been caused by a well-orchestrated smear campaign

Gigi Sohn: looking to become a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates telecoms and communications in the US. Illustration: Peter Hanan

On Tuesday afternoon in Washington DC, as Gigi Sohn sat down before the senate commerce committee, Ted Cruz, the Texan Republican senator, attempted to lay down an early marker. He wanted to remind everyone in attendance that this hearing was quite peculiar.

“This is your third hearing,” Cruz said to Sohn. “It is highly unusual.”

Sohn was appearing before the committee to discuss her nomination as a new commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), ...