Danielle Thumann Severs was supposed to face senators Thursday on her nomination to the Federal Communications Commission. Her newborn apparently had other plans.
The Senate Commerce Committee has postponed the September 17 confirmation hearing for FCC nominee Danielle Thumann Severs after she gave birth this week, temporarily putting the next step toward filling one of the Commission’s two vacant seats on hold.
An official familiar with the matter told The Desk that Thumann Severs is on maternity leave and that the hearing will be rescheduled after her leave concludes. The committee had not announced a new hearing date as of September 15.
Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Cruz had scheduled the hearing for 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the Russell Senate Office Building. Thumann Severs was to appear alongside Department of Transportation nominee Leslie Becera. The Commerce Committee’s original announcement identified Thumann Severs as President Donald Trump’s nominee for a five-year FCC term dating from July 1, 2024.
Trump formally sent her nomination to the Senate on August 7. She would occupy the seat previously held by Nathan Simington, whose term has expired. The nomination remains pending before the Senate Commerce Committee.
Thumann Severs currently serves as senior counsel to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, advising him on matters involving the Wireline Competition Bureau, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, and Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. She previously served as a legal adviser in Carr’s office from 2021 to 2023, spent time in the private sector working on government relations for a telecommunications infrastructure provider, and returned to the FCC in August 2024.
If confirmed, Thumann Severs would join Carr, Republican Commissioner Olivia Trusty and Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez, giving Republicans three seats on the five-member Commission. The other FCC seat remains vacant following the departure of Geoffrey Starks.
Her nomination has also drawn support from communications and infrastructure organizations. A coalition of 12 broadband, communications and public-safety groups — including NATE, NCTA and NTCA — recently urged Senate leaders to support her confirmation.
The postponement therefore appears to be just that — a delay rather than any problem with the nomination itself. For now, one of Washington’s carefully scheduled confirmation proceedings has encountered a deadline that Senate calendars don’t control.
