President Biden has picked a new nominee for the open seat on the Federal Communications Commission. She is telecommunications attorney Anna Gomez, currently a senior advisor for international information and communications policy in the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, which she joined a few months ago.
If confirmed by the Senate to fill the open FCC seat she will break the current 2-2 political tie that was protracted by controveries over the failed nomination of Gigi Sohn. Biden has also renominated Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr.
Gomez, a Democrat, joined State in January to lead U.S. preparations for the International Telecommunication Union World Radiocommunication Conference 2023. She is better known as a former deputy administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; and she served for 12 years in various positions at the FCC including as deputy chief of the International Bureau and senior legal advisor to then-Chairman Bill Kennard.
She also was counsel on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Communication and deputy chief of staff of the National Economic Council during the Clinton Administration.
Before coming to the State Department this year she was a partner in Wiley LLP’s telecommunications media and technology group. Among her work there, she was co-chair of its Unmanned Aircraft Systems Practice Group. She has also held positions at Sprint Nextel and Arnold and Porter.
Gomez is Hispanic; she was born in Florida and spent her childhood in Colombia before her family moved to New Jersey. She earned her B.A. in pre-paw from Pennsylvania State University and her J.D. from George Washington University Law School.
The National Hispanic Media Coalition had been among the organizations pushing President Biden for her nomination. “It has been well over 20 years since the Latine community has been represented in the FCC,” it wrote in March, referring to former Commissioner Gloria Tristani.
Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel welcomed the news. She said Gomez “brings with her a wealth of telecommunications experience, a substantial record of public service, and a history of working to ensure the U.S. stays on the cutting edge of keeping us all connected.”
Brendan Carr, one of the two Republicans on the FCC, said in a statement, “Ms. Gomez’s career demonstrates a longstanding commitment to public service — from her leadership in the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy to her previous service as staff counsel in the U.S. Senate and roles at the FCC, White House and National Telecommunications and Information Administration.”
Democrat Geoffrey Starks called her “one of the nation’s preeminent communications policy experts.”
The National Association of Broadcasters congratulated her and mentioned her possible impact on the Next Gen TV rollout.
