Congress this week voted to give controversial FCC boss Ajit Pai another term at the agency, despite the massive backlash to his notably anti-consumer policies. In just his first few months in office, Pai has begun dismantling net neutrality, helped kill consumer privacy protections, killed an FCC attempt to bring competition to the cable box, eliminated media consolidation rules largely to benefit Sinclair Broadcasting, began dismantling a program that brings broadband to the poor, and began weaking the definition of broadband to help minimize a lack of competition.
Despite notable backlash from consumers, the Senate voted 52-41 to give Pai another term.
All 41 no votes came from Democrats, though four Democrats voted for Pai's re-appointment: Joseph Manchin (D-W.V.); Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.); Gary Peters (D-Mich.); and Jon Tester (D-Mont.).
The vote gives Pai a new five year term retroactive to July. Pai would have had to leave the FCC at the end of the year if the Senate hadn't approved President Trump's request to give Pai a new term. Consumer groups had argued that Pai's tenure has been little more than a rubber stamp for major incumbent ISPs like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, and had urged politicians to block his re-appointment.
And while Pai's re-nomination wasn't blocked, it was potentially the most contested re-appointment in the history of the FCC, with politicians like Elizabeth Warren accusing Pai of turning the FCC into “a big-business support group.”
Warren argued that giant media companies like Comcast and AT&T “have launched an all-out assault on every branch of government with only one goal: to make sure the government works only for them and their buddies." Pai argued that “we need a strong chair at the FCC,” not "a chair who is working for the most powerful communications companies in America.”
"At every turn, Chairman Pai chooses corporate interests over consumers," Senator Ed Markey agreed, stating that the FCC now formally stands for "Forgetting Consumers and Competition."
Pai applauded the Senate's decision with a statement that runs in stark contrast to his actual policies and behavior (and the now three lawsuits against his agency for protocol, procedure, and transparency violations, including making up a DDOS attack).
“Since January, the Commission has focused on bridging the digital divide, promoting innovation, protecting consumers and public safety, and making the FCC more open and transparent," Pai said. "With today’s vote, I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to advance these critical priorities in the time to come.”
Unsurprisingly, major ISPs like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast all applauded Pai's re-appointment in statements that also intentionally and comically conflated up with down, black with white.
"Ajit Pai has favored deregulatory policies aimed at encouraging innovation, investment, job creation and economic growth -- all in an effort to best serve consumers," Comcast's top lobbyist David Cohen said in a statement. "We look forward to continuing to work with him and the full slate of FCC Commissioners, to modernize regulation while ensuring that every effort is made to connect all Americans."
Next up for the FCC boss: likely rubber stamping a T-Mobile and Sprint merger that will reduce the number of major competitors in the wireless sector from four to three, dramatically raising rates for American consumers.
