Demand Progress

BIG WIN: The Senate just confirmed Anna Gomez to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). We now have a fully staffed FCC for the first time in years.¹

That means the FCC can begin doing the vital job of reversing the Trump administration’s decision to gut net neutrality. This confirmation succeeded in part because tens of thousands of activists like you took action and contacted your Senators.

But the Senate can’t stop here. Another FCC Commissioner, Geoffrey Starks, needs to be reconfirmed before the end of the year, or the agency will again be unable to function. Telecom lobbyists and their Republican allies like Ted Cruz oppose Starks, so we need to tell our Senators to quickly vote YES on his reconfirmation.²

Net neutrality is the idea that internet service providers like Verizon and Cox must treat all content equally. That means that providers can’t censor content, create “fast lanes” for their own products, throttle traffic, or block access to their competitors.³

In 2017, Trump’s FCC Chair, Ajit Pai, destroyed net neutrality regulations, putting corporate internet providers back in control of what we can and can’t access online.³

Now that the Senate has confirmed Anna Gomez, we have a Democratic majority on the FCC for the first time since Pai’s disastrous decision. The agency can get to work soon to restore net neutrality, but in order to finish the job, the Senate must quickly reconfirm Commissioner Geoffrey Starks before his position expires in a few months.²

Sources:

1. The Verge, "Senate confirms Anna Gomez to break Joe Biden’s FCC deadlock,” September 7, 2023.
2. Common Dreams, "Progressives Applaud Senate Confirmation of Anna Gomez to FCC,” September 7, 2023.
3. Slate, "Goodbye, Ajit Pai,” January 20, 2021.