After 10 months of silence, the Biden administration nominated long-time progressive telecom champion Gigi Sohn to fill the open seat on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Like that of Lina Khan to the Federal Trade Commission, the nomination has generated controversy. A prominent Wall Street Journal editorial criticized the choice, while Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — who has a track record of supporting Democratic picks even in the face of profound policy disagreements — vowed to “do everything in [his] power” to defeat Sohn’s nomination.

Agency nomination battles such as this are increasingly grabbing headlines. In a sense, this heat and light is unsurprising. Sohn’s confirmation would create a three-member Democratic majority at the FCC, which would allow the commission to accomplish a wish list of progressive policy initiatives — a task that sounds suspiciously like legislating. One way to decrease the importance of these nomination fights is to reduce the power of agencies by shifting the locus of legislative decision-making back where it belongs — in Congress.