Pai Expected to Keep Ambitious Pace Throughout Chairmanship
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai promised to keep a busy agenda and has done so since he took office in January. Commissioner meetings under Pai have taken up an average of seven items, with a high of nine in July. Observers said when Pai became chairman he might have trouble keeping up with the pace set by his predecessor Tom Wheeler, who in general embraced a more regulatory philosophy. But another article in this Special Report found the Pai FCC votes on many more items at commissioner meetings than under Wheeler (see 1711070024).
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Pai’s emphasis has often been paring regulation, highlighted by the pending net neutrality NPRM, which will likely overturn the 2015 net neutrality rules. For the Nov. 16 meeting, Pai scheduled a vote on media ownership rules.
Actions on robocalls illustrate the different approaches of Wheeler and Pai. In June 2015, the Wheeler commission approved an order and declaratory ruling on implementation of the Telephone Consumers Protection Act, over a Pai dissent. Pai said it would cause problems for businesses making legitimate calls and mean more nuisance lawsuits (see 1506180046). Under Pai, the agency also has focused on robocalls, instead targeting bad actors.
Former officials said Pai inevitably has been distracted in his first nine months by the push on broadband deployment and reacting to three major late-summer hurricanes. The Pai FCC is likely to take a deep dive on many areas in the months ahead, they said.
If Pai slows his pace at all, it will be because the issues are very complicated, said Berin Szoka, president of TechFreedom. Szoka noted he's on one of the FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee’s working groups. “All I can tell you from our working group is it’s really complicated,” he said. “It’s going to be time-consuming for the agency.” Local officials are upset they are unrepresented on BDAC (see 1711060031). Broadband deployment, media ownership, net neutrality and the inevitable legal challenge will take time, Szoka said. Staff “will be working at capacity for as long as [Pai] is chairman,” he said. Pai took on process overhaul and is trying to “remake” the agency, he said. Some reforms, like making draft items public before commissioner meetings, have met with considerable praise (see 1711060006).
Opponents of some of the deregulatory actions by the Pai commission also expect Pai to stay busy. “We know what his agenda is,” said former Commissioner Michael Copps, now at Common Cause: Pai wants to “get rid of as much public interest oversight possible, do it as quick as you can before the political climate changes. If it doesn’t change, you just keep at it.” Pai doesn’t seem to have any “self-restraint,” Copps said. As a commissioner in the GOP minority, Pai complained the FCC shouldn’t move too fast, Copps said. Republicans “get the gavel and they get the power and it’s full-speed ahead with their agenda,” he said. There needs to be more of a national conversation on issues like media ownership and net neutrality, he said.
Pai was prepared to “destroy everything Wheeler did,” said Gigi Sohn, aide to the then-chairman. “He obviously had a plan and he’s executing it with unbelievable speed and efficiency.” More is on the way, Sohn said. Pai has “Lifeline teed up to essentially destroy it,” she said. “Net neutrality is next. He’s chipping away at E-rate. I’m sure he’s going to find a way to turn that into a block grant.” On enforcement, the FCC under Pai is focused on two things -- robocalls and pirate radio, she said: “He’s not going to do anything that’s going to upset big incumbents.” Pai “has one principle,” she said: “Whatever helps the incumbent get bigger and stronger, that’s what he’s in favor of.”
Others see Pai as executing on the deregulatory agenda as expected with a Republican White House. Pai supporters agree he will stay busy.
Former Commissioner Robert McDowell sees Pai as possibly the most transparent FCC boss. “A good rule of thumb is to look at his dissents,” McDowell, a Republican, said. “Where possible, those old Wheeler orders could end up being new Pai orders to rescind. Also look to unanimous votes, such as with spectrum policy. Those initiatives could end up being continued unanimously during the Pai chairmanship. Just those two buckets portend a lot of activity for years to come, and that doesn't include new unforeseen matters." Many of these votes are along party lines (see 1711070024).
The commission seems to be more collaborative in general under Pai, said Larry Downes, senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy. “Pai has operated much more transparently, and has made numerous conciliations to all of his colleagues on particular orders and proceedings,” he said. “The commission may not have returned to the largely nonpartisan model under which it operated prior to the Obama era. But then there was a lot of damage done that still needs repairing.”
Sohn disagreed that Pai has been a peacemaker. “This spin ignores the fact that as minority commissioners, Pai and [Mike] O’Reilly ‘ran up the score,’ inventing excuses to dissent, including voting against notices of inquiry and even menial personnel decisions,” she said. “On the most important decisions affecting the American people, the votes have been split along partisan lines.”