The Senate on Thursday confirmed Anna Gomez, President Biden’s pick for the Federal Communications Commission, ending a lengthy partisan split at the regulatory agency and giving Democrats the power to carry out major agenda items.

The move returns the agency to full strength for the first time under Biden, whose initial pick for the FCC role Gigi Sohn withdrew after a contentious 16-month confirmation battle.

Consumer advocates said the two-and-a-half-year delay hampered the FCC’s ability to carry out critical tasks aimed at protecting Americans from potential abuse by the telecom giants, including reinstating the Obama-era net neutrality regulations, which bar internet service providers from blocking or throttling content.

Gomez’s confirmation could also unlock the agency’s ability to carry out more aggressive oversight of the telecommunications sector, which Biden called for in a 2021 executive order, including potentially imposing more stringent utility-style regulation under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934.

Senate Republican leaders sharply criticized Sohn as a “partisan,” citing her past remarks and social media activity on political matters, and conservative groups mounted a broad campaign to tank her nomination.

In March, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) dealt Sohn’s nomination a major blow by publicly opposing her and accusing her of holding “partisan alliances with far-left groups.”

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