WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Ajit Pai could become the very first Indian American FCC Chairman. Earlier today he was named the interim chairman after President-elect Donald Trump met with senior FCC commissioner Ajit Pai on Monday, according to transition team member and future White House spokesperson Sean Spicer, who added it was Trump’s final meeting of the day.
Pai was widely expected to be tapped as interim FCC chair when the president-elect is sworn in, and could be named permanent chair as well. However, fellow Republican Michael O’Reilly’s name has also been hinted as a possibility.
“I’m optimistic that last month’s election will prove to be an inflection point—and that during the Trump Administration, we will shift from playing defense at the FCC to going on offense,” Pai said in a speech yesterday before the Free State Foundation in Washington, DC, said. Reports surfaced over the weekend that the Trump team has embraced an FCC deregulatory plan that squares, generally, with the philosophies of both Pai and O’Rielly.
While the FCC may look into undoing some of the actions taken during the Obama administration, the focus in the coming days Pai said will be to set the bar high for any new regulations. Proof of market failure should guide the next Commission’s consideration of new regulations,” he told the Free State Foundation. “And the FCC should only adopt a regulation if it determines that its benefits outweigh its costs.”
Pai has served as a Republican Commissioner since 2012, after being nominated by President Obama and received a unanimous confirmation. Pai was born in the U.S. to parents who immigrated from India in 1971. His mother is a native of Bangalore, while Pai’s father hails from Hyderabad.
Here’s Commissioner Pai on Diya TV’s ‘The Public Interest with Ravi Kapur’ discussing convergence, Title II & Competition
