“Ajit Pai has officially been elevated to the post of FCC chairman by President Trump, succeeding Tom Wheeler,” Ted Johnson reports for Variety. “‘I am deeply grateful to the President of the United States for designating me the 34th Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission,’ Pai said in a statement. ‘I look forward to working with the new Administration, my colleagues at the Commission, members of Congress, and the American public to bring the benefits of the digital age to all Americans.'”
“He has been a critic of the FCC’s approach to net neutrality rules, and said in a speech last month that Trump’s election was an ‘inflection Point’ where ‘we will shift from playing defense at the FCC to going on offense,'” Johnson reports. “On Twitter, he took a more bipartisan tone.”
From broadband to broadcast, I believe in a 21st-century version of Jefferson's 2nd Inaugural: we are all Republicans, we are all Democrats.
— Ajit Pai (@AjitPai) January 23, 2017
Republicans now enjoy a 2-1 majority on the FCC, after eight years in the minority under President Barack Obama. The other commissioners are Michael O’Rielly, a Republican, and Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat,” Johnson reports. “Pai is expected to diverge greatly from the agenda of Wheeler, who was chairman for almost four years under President Obama, by taking a lighter touch on regulation. In his speech last month, Pai signaled that he would look to reverse regulatory moves. ‘We need to fire up the weed whacker and remove those rules that are holding back investment, innovation, and job creation,’ he said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, common sense will reign.
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