Ajit Pai New FCC Chairman

New FCC Chairman Ajit Pai (FCC photo)

President Trump has named FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai as the agency's new chairman. Pai, a Republican, was named to the Commission in 2012 by President Obama and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. 

Pai has promised to use a "weed whacker" to eliminate outdated or unnecessary FCC regulations, and to bring more transparency to the Commission's decision-making process. 

One of his first moves was to begin a pilot program of releasing the texts of Notices of Proposed Rule Making (NPRMs) and Reports & Orders scheduled to be considered by the commissioners at the next FCC meeting. Until now, texts have been released only after adoption by the Commission.
 

At press time, there were two vacancies on the FCC - one for a Republican and one for a Democrat - that need to be filled by the President and confirmed by the Senate.