Analysis | Hispanic groups renew push for FCC pick as Biden reups … – The Washington Post
Hispanic groups renew push for FCC pick as Biden reups Sohn
A coalition of Hispanic groups is renewing calls for President Biden to “name a person of Latino descent” to the Federal Communications Commission, according to a letter shared with The Technology 202. The campaign comes as the White House forges ahead with the long-stalled nomination of Gigi Sohn.
Over a dozen civil rights and advocacy groups wrote in a letter to Biden on Monday that tapping a Hispanic nominee for the agency would represent “a powerful sign of your commitment to our community.”
The groups lamented that the FCC has lacked a Latino commissioner for over two decades and said appointing one would make it “more likely” the agency would “champion equitable language access” and push for more inclusive internet access policies.
“Put simply, a Latino FCC Commissioner would help ensure that Latinos can fully participate in and contribute to America’s future,” wrote the groups, which included Esperanza United, Leonas, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).
The letter doesn’t mention Sohn by name, but the missive arrives as her proponents are rallying to get her nomination over the finish line after being stuck in the Senate for over a year.
Biden first tapped Sohn, a former Democratic FCC staffer and longtime consumer advocate, in October 2021, but the pick has been bogged down amid steadfast opposition from Republicans and what her allies have decried as a major industry campaign to block her. The delay has hamstrung the agency’s ability to carry out key Democratic agenda items.
Amy Hinojosa, CEO of MANA and one of the signatories on the letter, said some Hispanic advocacy groups feel their concerns have not been “heard” by the White House and plan to urge Biden to pull Sohn. Since Biden became president, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have also repeatedly pressed Biden to step up Latino and Hispanic representation across the executive branch.
“I’m not just hoping — we’re going to push until we see the nomination withdrawn,” Hinojosa told me.
The White House renominated Sohn to the FCC on Tuesday, a day after the coalition sent their letter, a signal Biden is unlikely to heed calls to withdraw the nomination anytime soon. It’s unclear how much of the coalition would support withdrawing Sohn rather than waiting for another slot.
“If we’re not being listened to, then we have to be louder,” Hinojosa said.
White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton said that Sohn “has strong support from an extensive coalition of communities of color, including Latino leaders and organizations” and that administration officials take “representation seriously and are proud to have built an administration that looks like America.” Sohn declined to comment.
While Sohn is facing opposition from some Hispanic advocacy groups, others have embraced her nomination, including UnidosUS and the Hispanic Federation.
Gloria Tristani, the last Hispanic commissioner to serve on the FCC, has also endorsed Sohn’s nomination, writing in an op-ed for the Hill last January that she “will be an ally to those focused on equity, justice and economic fairness.”
Jessica González, another Sohn ally who serves as co-CEO of the advocacy group Free Press and previously worked for the National Hispanic Media Coalition, said she supports efforts to boost Latino and Hispanic representation at the FCC. But she said “stalling” Sohn’s nomination would be “bad for our community” and consumers at large.
“I think we’ve been underrepresented there as an important demographic group that has unique needs when it comes to telecommunications and media services, so I support that, but I don’t support any effort that would derail or delay getting this seat filled,” she told me.
González said strong consideration should be given to Latino and Hispanic candidates the next time an FCC slot opens up, including potentially later this year when Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks’s five-year term at the agency is set to expire.
Allies have touted Biden’s nomination of Sohn, who would be the first openly gay FCC commissioner, as groundbreaking in its own right.
Some of those who signed onto the letter, including the civil rights group LULAC, count broadband giants including Comcast and AT&T as financial partners — drawing criticism from Sohn allies who say corporate influences are tilting the scales against her.
Hinojosa, whose 501(c)(3) nonprofit disclosed that it has received funding from AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, Citibank and the American Federation of Teachers, among other entities, called those criticisms “an easy way out to discount the work that organizations like ours have been doing for decades.”
“If we were beholden to companies who gave us money we’d never be able to get through the day,” she said. “Ultimately, we’re responsible and responsive to the communities that we serve, and it gets to the point where it’s offensive that folks would even suggest that.”
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Social Security numbers of Trump allies posted in Jan. 6 committee documents
The Government Publishing Office (GPO) appeared to publish the spreadsheet with nearly 2,000 Social Security numbers sometime this week. The numbers belonged to high-profile Trump allies, Republican governors and members of Trump’s Cabinet, Aaron Schaffer and Patrick Marley report. The GPO removed the spreadsheet on Wednesday, shortly after The Post notified it of the existence of the numbers. The agency has since re-uploaded the spreadsheet with the Social Security numbers redacted.
Several people listed in the spreadsheet declined to confirm to The Post whether their Social Security numbers matched the ones listed in the file, citing privacy concerns.
The Social Security numbers were listed in part of the White House visitor logs that listed visitors to the White House at the end of Trump’s presidency. In a Feb. 15, 2022, letter to Archivist of the United States David Ferriero, White House lawyer Dana Remus wrote that the Jan. 6 committee “agreed to accept production of these records with birth dates and social security numbers removed” to “ensure that personal privacy information is not inadvertently disclosed.”
The National Archives appeared to lay some of the blame on the committee. “While we took affirmative steps to redact personally identifiable information (PII), we did not expect that the Committee would publicly release records that still may have contained PII,” the Archives’s public and media communications office said in a statement. A spokesperson for the committee’s chairman, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), did not provide comment.
A former committee aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said that committee “records released publicly underwent a review process to redact personal details and other sensitive information.”
FTC proposes ban on worker noncompete clauses
The Federal Trade Commission’s proposal would make it illegal for companies to continue to use the contracts, which restrict employees from seeking work at competitors, or enter into such contracts with their workers, Lauren Kaori Gurley reports. It marks the FTC’s first big shot at expanding antitrust enforcement to empower American workers, Lauren writes.
“The FTC estimates that banning noncompete contracts would open new job opportunities for 30 million Americans and raise wages by $300 billion a year,” Lauren writes. “If enacted, the rule could send shock waves across a wide range of industries.”
Some states, including California, already ban such contracts. Some observers have suggested that California’s unwillingness to enforce noncompete agreements enabled Silicon Valley’s rise as a tech hub.
Microsoft drops claim that FTC’s existence is illegal
In responding to the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit seeking to block its deal to purchase video game giant Activision, Microsoft had argued that the FTC’s structure and administrative law clerks violated the U.S. Constitution, Axios’s Stephen Totilo reports. Activision is also removing the argument from its response to the lawsuit.
“The FTC has an important mission to protect competition and consumers, and we quickly updated our response to omit language suggesting otherwise based on the constitution,” Microsoft spokesperson David Cuddy told Axios. “We initially put all potential arguments on the table internally and should have dropped these defenses before we filed. We appreciated feedback about these defenses and are engaging directly with those who expressed concerns to make our position clear.”
The Communications Workers of America, a union that represents workers in sectors like the media, tech and telecom industries, which has long supported Microsoft’s deal to purchase Activision, says it’s hoping that the FTC and Microsoft will reach an agreement, allowing the deal to go through. The FTC’s lawsuit was “a huge missed opportunity to really give workers a seat at the table when it comes to mergers and acquisitions,” CWA Chief of Staff Jody Calemine told Bloomberg News. CWA President Chris Shelton pushed FTC Chair Lina Khan in October to allow the deal to go through, Bloomberg News reported.
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Workforce report
Hill happenings
- U.S. senators speak at the CES conference in Las Vegas at 2 p.m. local time today.
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