Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) grilled a controversial Biden nominee to the Federal Communication Commission about her donations to Democratic senators at a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
Gigi Sohn, whose confirmation would give Democrats a majority on the FCC’s five-person panel, gave over $1,000 to Democratic senators facing reelection last year, including donations she made after her nomination. The donations were first publicly revealed by the Washington Examiner.
‘WHOLLY UNQUALIFIED’: TED CRUZ SAYS BIDEN’S WASTING HIS TIME WITH FCC NOMINEE GIGI SOHN
.@SenTedCruz grills FCC nominee Gigi Sohn for cutting checks to sitting Senate Democrats during her pending nomination. pic.twitter.com/jLvlEiWpwt
— Senate Commerce Republicans (@SenateCommerce) February 14, 2023
“In the 15 months your nomination has been pending, you’ve made not one, not two, not three, but 12 separate political contributions to senators running for office,” Cruz said at the Tuesday hearing. “I’ve been in the Senate 10 years, I have never seen a nominee make contributions to senators while your nomination is pending. I’ve never seen that once. … You’ve been a significant political donor over the years, giving over $32,000. Do you believe it was poor judgment to give 12 separate political contributions to Democratic senators while your nomination was pending?”
Sohn defended her “relatively small” contributions as the actions of “a citizen who just wanted to participate in the Democratic process.”
Sohn’s campaign contributions went to Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), John Fetterman (D-PA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Michael Bennet (D-CO). Watchdog groups have said the recipients should recuse themselves from the vote.
“Senators need to be held to a higher standard when it comes to the corrupt influence of money in politics,” Tom Jones, president of the American Accountability Foundation, told the Washington Examiner earlier this month. “They knew who Gigi Sohn was when they took her money, and they knew they would have to vote on her nomination. They cannot unring the bell of corruption by returning these donations.”
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Biden’s decision to renominate Sohn indicates he has confidence she will be confirmed, especially after politically vulnerable senators such as Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Cortez Masto won reelection in 2022. Republicans and centrist Democrats are concerned with her record of partisanship.
Biden first nominated Sohn in 2021, but her nomination stalled in the Senate Commerce Committee. He renominated her on Jan. 3.
