Trump meets with FCC chairman

by Harper Neidig - 03/06/17 8:59 AM ET

President Trump met with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Monday afternoon, according to the White House schedule.

It appears to be the first time the two have met since Trump elevated Pai to the chairmanship in January.

“Chairman Pai had a warm meeting with President Trump this afternoon, in which they reconnected for the first time since Chairman Pai was elevated to head the FCC,” an agency spokesman said in a statement on Monday afternoon. “No proceedings pending at the FCC were discussed.”

{mosads}Pai, who has served on the commission since 2012, has worked quickly to try to undo many of the regulations pushed through under his Democratic predecessor.

He has revoked nine companies from a subsidy program for internet access, suspended an FCC probe into free-data programs offered by providers like Verizon and AT&T and retracted a report on a program that provides broadband access to schools and libraries.

The FCC also voted last week to block a data security rule on the day before it would have gone into effect. The rule would have required internet service providers to beef up their security of consumers’ data.

Pai is set to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday for an oversight hearing.

Updated 4:47 p.m.

Tags Ajit Pai