The U.S. Senate last night voted 52 to 41 to reconfirm FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to a second five-year term retroactive to July 1, 2016. (Not all 100 senators voted.) The vote followed party lines, following floor speeches from Democrats blaming Pai for trying to overturn Net Neutrality to favoring media consolidation with the pending Sinclair acquisition of Tribune.
Sen. Tom Udall was one of those who opposed Pai’s reconfirmation, saying he’s “put corporate interests first” and is “poised to dismantle” the 2015 Open Internet order. Sen. Elizabeth Warren-(D-MA) chimed in, saying “Pai has worked at breakneck speed to transform the FCC” from an agency that works on behalf of the public “to one that works for corporate interests,” specifically citing the proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger. Her colleague, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) said: “Under Pai the ‘FCC’ stands for ‘Forgetting Consumers and Competition.’” Continue Reading
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