WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) -

Two members of the Federal Communications Commission said

Wednesday they plan to resign this week giving President Donald

Trump two more seats to fill on the U.S. telecom regulator.

Republican Nathan Simington was confirmed in December 2020

to the five-member FCC after he led a regulatory effort during

Trump's first term in office seeking to rein in social media

companies, and could have stayed on until the end of the year.

Democratic FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, who could have

stayed until 2028, said he plans to step down this week.

Meanwhile the Senate has not yet voted on the nomination

of Senate aide Olivia Trusty to serve on the panel. That could

temporarily leave the FCC with one Republican and one Democratic

commissioner.

Turnover at the FCC is common during changes in

presidential administrations.

The departures come as Trump has pressured Republican FCC

Chair Brendan Carr to strip CBS of its broadcast licenses after

Trump sued CBS News seeking $20 billion over its editing of a

"60 Minutes" interview in October 2024 with then-Democratic

presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Trump has fired Democratic commissioners on other

independent agencies including the Federal Trade Commission.

Carr has rejected a bid from CBS, which is owned by

Paramount Global ( PARAA ), to dismiss the complaint alleging the

Harris interview violated the FCC's "news distortion" rules.

Paramount is seeking FCC approval for an $8.4 billion merger

with Skydance Media.

He has given no timeframe for when the FCC might act on

the merger.

In April, the long-time executive producer of "60

Minutes"

Bill Owens

said he was stepping down over concerns about editorial

independence.

In January, Carr reinstated complaints about the "60

Minutes" interview with Harris, as well as complaints about how

Walt Disney's ( DIS ) ABC News moderated the pre-election TV

debate between then-President Joe Biden and Trump.

The FCC also reinstated complaints against Comcast's ( CMCSA )

NBC for allowing Harris to appear on "Saturday Night

Live" shortly before the election.

Carr also pressured Verizon to roll back its diversity,

equity and inclusion

program before the FCC agreed to approve

its $20 billion deal to acquire fiber-optic internet

provider Frontier Communications.