Split Senate panel advances Biden nominees

The Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday advanced President Biden’s nominees to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in two tie votes split along party lines.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) returned to the Senate before the vote, after roughly a month-long absence while recovering from a stroke, giving Democrat’s the votes they needed to push forward the long-delayed nominees.

He was met with a round of applause from committee members, and welcoming comments from members on both sides of the aisle.

But a warm welcome for Luján was the end of the bipartisan consensus during Thursday’s markup. Republicans continued to push back on FCC nominee Gigi Sohn and FTC nominee Alvaro Bedoya, both of whom would give their respective commissions a Democratic majority.