Trusty Gets Her Commerce Committee Vote on April 30

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2025 – The Senate Commerce Committee will vote April 30 to advance the nomination of Olivia Trusty to become the third Republican on the Federal Communications Commission.

Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, confirmed the date Wednesday. Trusty’s confirmation would mark a shift at the FCC, giving the GOP a majority at the agency for the first time since Chairman Ajit Pai's resignation in January 2021.

Assuming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., schedules floor time, Trusty could be confirmed before May 23. The Senate is in session from April 28 through May 19 before its Memorial Day recess, and Thune has said getting nominations confirmed was a priority for him. 

The timing comes as Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks has announced he will step down this spring, leaving Anna Gomez as the sole remaining Democrat.

It remains unclear whether President Donald Trump will keep with tradition and move quickly to nominate a replacement for Starks or allow Republicans to take control with a 3–1 advantage. 

Trusty’s nomination hearing earlier this month previewed the policy direction she will likely bring to the FCC, emphasizing spectrum compromise, cautious reform of the Universal Service Fund, and support for expanding broadband affordability.

Her nomination will be considered alongside more than a dozen other items at the April 30 markup, including one major telecom bill: S. 259, the Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act, sponsored by Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. The bill would require the FCC to publicly disclose entities with significant foreign adversary ownership in U.S. communications networks.

The committee vote on Trusty's nomination comes on the heels of the panel advancing Arielle Roth's nomination to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on April 9, by a 16–12 vote. Notably, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., changed his vote from no to yes by proxy after the fact, while the rest of the committee’s Democrats opposed the nomination.