Policymakers

The Senate majority is charging forward with plans to vote to reconfirm Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai for another five years. Rehiring Pai to head the agency that oversees US communications policies would be a boon for the phone and cable companies he eagerly serves. But it would hurt everyone else who needs this agency to put our communications rights before the profits of monopoly-minded media giants. In the coming days, senators have the opportunity to intervene on the public’s behalf and fire Pai. Here are five reasons they should do so:
1. Net Neutrality Lies
2. Widening the Digital Divide
3. Sinclair Quid Pro Quo
4. First Amendment Fail
5. Assault on Online Privacy

On the floor of the Senate, Sen Ed Markey (D-MA) said, "At every turn, [Federal Communications Commission] Chairman Pai choses corporate interests over consumers." He told his colleagues that the FCC now stands for "Forgetting Consumers and Competition" under Chairman Ajit Pai. He also said he would outline who is getting a big piece of the FCC pie under Pai. He even used a visual aide, an FCC logo divided into Pai wedges he moved from the "consumer" side of his chart to the "corporation" side.

Sen Markey tied his opposition to Pai's proposal to roll back Title II classification of broadband internet access service and repealing network neutrality rules. Markey said Pai was in the thrall of big media to the detriment of consumers. But he also pointed to Pai’s actions on Lifeline, broadband privacy, the Sinclair-Tribune merger, E-rate and more as reasons to deny him a seat on the commission, which were other pieces of the pie he moved to the "corporation" side in his own version of a Senate Ted Talk.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) took to the Senate floor to oppose the nomination of Ajit Pai for a new five-year term on the Federal Communications Commission. His remarks came just before a planned cloture vote on debate on the nomination.

Sen Wyden’s opposition is rooted in Pai's proposal to roll back Title II classification of broadband internet access service and eliminating network neutrality rules. Sen Wyden has been one of the Hill's most vociferous critics of that proposal. Sen Wyden said Chairman Pai had worked long and hard to undermine net neutrality, which he said was folks getting a "fair shake" online. Sen Wyden also took aim at broadband providers, saying their commitment to "voluntary" net neutrality was bogus. He said there was as much likelihood that they would do so voluntarily as that his nine-year-old son would voluntary limit himself to one desert. "It just isn't going to happen." He said Chairman Pai sides with the big cable companies over small businesses and consumers. The senator said Chairman Pai had signaled he was blowing up the internet's level playing field by saying he would take a weed whacker to regulations. He said the debate was not over Google and Oracle, but about start-ups and small businesses wanting to grow.

Speaking in support of Ajit Pai’s nomination for a new five-year term on the Federal Communications Commission, Sen Roger Wicker (R-MS) said that in nine short months, Chairman Pai had taken steps to keep the internet free and open for consumers, and would keep the "heavy hand of government away from the controls."

Sen Wicker is working with Chairman Pai to help promote rural connectivity and Wicker said that the FCC would be in good hands with Pai as its chairman. "Mr. Pai has proven he is capable of being an exemplary FCC chairman," said Wicker. "He understands the strong connection between technology and innovation." Sen Wicker also said he hoped Chairman Pai would continue to hold the FCC to the highest standards of transparency, citing his decision to publish the draft texts of items before they were voted on.

Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House Communications Director whose tenure lasted 10 days, is starting his own news service, he announced in a video on Twitter Sept 27. The video was posted to a new handle, @ScaramucciPost.

[Commentary] If you believe communications networks should be fast, fair, open, and affordable, you need ask your senator to vote against Ajit Pai’s reconfirmation. Now. The Senate vote on Pai is imminent. When it happens, it will be a stark referendum on the kind of communications networks and consumer protections we want to see in this country.

Senators can choose a toothless Federal Communications Commission that will protect huge companies, allow them to further consolidate, charge higher prices with worsening service, and a create bigger disconnect between broadband haves and have-nots. Or, they can vote for what the FCC is supposed to do: protect consumers, promote competition, and ensure access for all Americans, including the most vulnerable. It shouldn’t be a hard decision, and what we’ve seen over the past eight months makes the stakes clear.

[Gigi Sohn served as counselor to former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler from November 2013 to December 2016. She is currently a fellow at the Open Society Foundations]

The Senate voted to confirm President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department’s antitrust division, a vote that comes as the department considers the AT&T-Time Warner merger worth $85.4 billion. Makan Delrahim, who previously worked in Trump’s White House counsel’s office, was cleared with a 73-21 vote.

Delrahim will be tasked with spearheading the administration’s antitrust agenda at a time when the issue is becoming increasingly prominent. Across the board, industries are facing increased consolidation amid rumors of mega-mergers. Sprint and T-Mobile are reportedly set to announce a merger in the coming weeks that would reduce the number of major national wireless carriers from four to three. And the AT&T-Time Warner deal has prompted criticism from Democrats who worry that it could stifle competitors and raise prices for consumers. Delrahim said in a media interview in 2016, prior to his nomination, that he doesn’t see that merger as a concern for regulators.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) took to the Senate floor to oppose the nomination of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai for a new term on the commission, citing network neutrality. Sen Cantwell said Chairman Pai had moved the FCC away from its key public service mission, including net neutrality, which she called one of the most important issues of our time. She told her colleagues that in the information age, making sure the internet remains open is key. She also said that the vote on Pai's nomination would happen on Oct. 2. She said Chairman Pai was trying to clog the arteries of one of the fastest growing economic opportunities in America. "I am not going to vote for someone who is going to clog the internet."

Sen Bob Corker (R-TN), chairman of the influential Foreign Relations Committee, will not seek re-election in 2018. He is the first senator to announce retirement plans ahead of 2018's election cycle. "I believe the most important public service I have to offer our country could well occur over the next 15 months," Sen Corker said, "and I want to be able to do that as thoughtfully and independently as I did the first 10 years and nine months of my Senate career." Minutes after learning that Sen Corker won’t seek reelection, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said she’s considering running for his Senate seat in 2018. “Yes,” Blackburn said when asked if she's taking a look at the Senate race.

These are boom times for the anti-Trump industrial complex. Fundraising is through the roof for lefty organizations that hadn’t been relevant since the Clinton era; the grass roots have never been greener for new activist groups; and political hacks may be sexier than ever. A clique of former Obama speechwriters with a sideline in #Resistance podcasting is selling out 6,000-person concert halls; Rob Reiner, the director of “Spinal Tap,” has teamed up with James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence, to found the Committee to Investigate Russia; and liberal activists recently surpassed the Guinness world record for the most people on, yes, a conference call.