Senate Democrats today opposed President Trump’s nominee for an open Federal Communications Commission seat, and criticized Republicans for moving to confirm a new commissioner during the period before Democrats take control of Congress in January 2027. Democrats also plan to use their majority next year to launch probes of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.

“After the American people last week overwhelmingly rejected the MAGA agenda, there is no justification for this committee to advance partisan nominees during the lame-duck period,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said today at the Commerce Committee’s nomination hearing for Danielle Thumann Severs, Trump’s pick to fill an empty commissioner’s seat.

Thumann Severs, an attorney and senior counsel to Carr, faced questions from Democrats about whether she supports Carr’s attacks on TV broadcasters.

“Do you support Chairman Carr’s illegal campaign to remove Jimmy Kimmel from the nation’s airwaves?” Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) asked the nominee.

Thumann Severs responded that she has not advised Carr on media-related topics and declined Luján’s request to identify any specific policy issues on which she disagrees with Carr.

“I don’t think Chairman Carr is going to be around more than another three or four months”

Luján predicted trouble for Carr when Democrats take the majority in both chambers of Congress. He seemed to suggest that Carr will quickly grow tired of having to testify in Congress multiple times a month under the Democratic majorities.

“I don’t think Chairman Carr is going to be around more than another three or four months because when we have the gavels in here, he will be here once a month,” Luján said. “And Mr. Carr, if you’re listening now, know you’re going to be in this body once a month, if not more, and in the House of Representatives as well, answering questions, and you don’t have the protection of the gavel any longer.” Luján said Democrats will use “subpoena authorities that you have to respond to so we can get to the bottom of the nonsense and the cover-ups that have been taking place.”

Markey accused Thumann Severs of evading questions about Carr threatening and taking actions against broadcasters on behalf of Trump. “Anyone seeking a seat on the Federal Communications Commission must be willing to stand up to such threats and to defend the First Amendment, and you’re not willing to do so here in your confirmation hearing,” Markey said.

Democrats similarly criticized Thumann Severs for not giving a clear answer on whether the FCC has authority to eliminate E-Rate, a $2 billion-a-year program that was created by Congress to connect students and library visitors to the Internet. Carr has proposed eliminating or scaling back the program. Thumann Severs said she helped Carr work on the E-Rate Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which seeks public comment about the program and the FCC’s authority to change or eliminate it.

“I can’t prejudge the open proceeding [on E-Rate] at the FCC right now,” she said today.

“I am not comfortable with your answers today”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) criticized Thumann Severs’ answers. “If you’re confirmed, you’re going to be one of the votes that decides whether the FCC stays an independent regulator, or becomes an arm of the White House press office. We deserve to know where you stand, and I am not comfortable with your answers today,” Duckworth said.

Duckworth told Thumann Severs that the FCC cannot eliminate E-Rate without Congressional approval. “We never directed the FCC to eliminate the program and frankly, at a time when the price of gas, groceries, and utilities is skyrocketing, the last thing the FCC should be doing is making it harder for schools to stay connected,” Duckworth said.

The Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee held today’s hearing for Thumann Severs and three other nominees for federal positions. Senators have until Thursday to submit additional questions for the record, and nominees will have until November 16 to respond.

Thumann Severs needs approval from the committee and then the full Senate to be confirmed to the FCC. Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is trying to get her approved before Republicans have to give up their Senate majority.

Thumann Severs would give Republicans an unusual 3-1 advantage on the FCC, which usually operates with a 3-2 split. Democrats criticized Republicans for not pairing her nomination with a Democratic one. The commission has only one Democrat, Anna Gomez, and she would have to leave at the end of 2027 if she is not given another term.

“For many decades, the Senate has paired commission nominees: A Republican and a Democrat moving together,” Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) said. “Congress established the FCC as an independent, bipartisan agency… a bipartisan FCC is essential to avoid things like large-scale media consolidation, and I think also more fundamentally to protect a free and diverse press.”

Carr’s threat to ABC “were his words… not my words”

Because US law requires the FCC to have three commissioners for a quorum, Gomez’s “presence in the current 2-1 Republican majority is necessary for the FCC to conduct business,” Hickenlooper said. The Communications Act prohibits a single party from holding more FCC seats than is necessary to form a majority, but Hickenlooper predicted that Trump will fire Gomez to give Republicans a 3-0 stranglehold.

“If today’s nominee is confirmed, President Trump could then fire Commissioner Gomez and have an FCC with no Democratic voice at all,” Hickenlooper said.

Hickenlooper questioned whether Thumann Severs is sufficiently independent from Carr. “Ms. Thumann Severs, your career has largely been spent serving Brendan Carr,” Hickenlooper said. “[You are] currently Chairman Carr’s senior counsel; previously, you were legal advisor to Commissioner Carr. Your official duties include near-daily meetings with Chairman Carr and working to advance his agenda, amplify his messaging.”

Markey asked Thumann Severs if it was appropriate for Carr to use the FCC’s regulatory authority to pressure broadcasters into taking a comedian off the air. Markey was referring to an incident last year in which Carr threatened to revoke ABC broadcast TV licenses over remarks made by Kimmel, who was then suspended by ABC owner Disney.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said at the time, adding that Disney must “take action” on Kimmel “or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

When asked about Carr’s comments today, Thumann Severs said, “Those were his words. They were not my words, and I have not advised him or worked with the chairman on these particular issues. I can say that if I were to be confirmed as commissioner, I would make all of my decisions [based on] the facts and the law and the record.”

FCC review of ABC station licenses

Senate Democrats tried to get Thumann Severs to discuss Carr’s decision to order an early review of ABC station licenses. “Do you think the FCC should revoke broadcasters’ licenses because the president does not like their coverage?” Duckworth asked.

Thumann Severs answered that the FCC “has a responsibility to fully investigate any complaint… and to evaluate that complaint on the merits. I don’t think a decision should be made purely based on someone’s discontent with the content being aired.”

Although the ABC license review is widely seen as retaliation against the network for its news coverage and other programming, Carr’s proceeding is ostensibly based on an allegation that Disney’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices are discriminatory.