D.C. Memo: Senate Set to Confirm Trusty Today, Giving Carr One-Vote Majority
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FCC: FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has waited 148 days for his Republican majority. Today, the waiting ends. If all goes according to plan, the Senate will confirm Olivia Trusty, giving Republicans a 2-1 advantage that would have been 3-1 had not FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington abruptly resigned on June 6. The Senate last night announced that the body would vote this afternoon to confirm Trusty for a five-year term starting July 1, plus for a term ending June 30, which represents the unexpired portion of the term of former Democratic FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. The Senate will convene at 11:30 a.m. ET and vote on Trusty at 2:15 p.m. C-SPAN will have live coverage. Simington’s exit made it important for Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to speed Trusty to the floor not just to give Carr a majority but also a quorum. (Some speculated that Trusty would not get a vote until after the Fourth of July). Dozens of President Trump’s nominees are still awaiting confirmation. Since Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, Thune has pushed 80 Trump nominations (not including the military) through the 53-47 GOP-controlled Senate, and more than 100 remain on the Senate’s executive calendar, according to the Senate Republicans Communications Center (SRCC) led by Thune. Trusty, an aide to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee on April 30, 21-7, with considerable Democratic support. But Democrats like Sens. Maria Cantwell and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) vowed to oppose her on the floor if Trump had not nominated a Democrat to replace FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, who resigned the same day as Simington. The FCC has two vacancies for Trump to fill. Trusty does not have much of a public track record in communications policy, though at her April 9 confirmation hearing she strongly defended the First Amendment and viewed universal service as a core concept. What Trusty truly believes will take some time to learn, but the process will start soon. Her first FCC Open Meeting is on June 26.
