President Trump renominated Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai for another five-year term on Tuesday.
The news comes one day after Pai and Trump met at the White House.
Pai’s current term expires on June 30, and a new one, if confirmed by the Senate, would start on July 1. He has served since 2012.
“I am deeply honored to have been nominated by President Trump to serve a second term on the Federal Communications Commission,” Pai wrote in a statement. “If I am fortunate to be confirmed by the Senate, I will continue to work with my colleagues to connect all Americans with digital opportunity, foster innovation, protect consumers, promote public safety, and make the FCC more open and transparent to the American people.”
Trump tapped Pai to be his FCC chairman just days after the inauguration. Pai’s Democratic predecessor, Tom Wheeler, resigned when President Barack Obama left office.
In a statement late Tuesday, that officially announced Pai’s nomination, along with a handful of others, Trump said of the nominees: “These dedicated men and women will help me and the rest of the Administration as we continue our work to make America great again. I am grateful for their willingness to serve and honored that they will be joining my team.”
Pai has already made waves in his first month in charge. The vocal critic of net neutrality has already taken steps to weaken those regulations, and last week voted to block implementation of a data security provision of Obama-era broadband privacy rules from going into effect.
Pai, along with his two fellow remaining FCC members, is slated to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday on FCC oversight.
The FCC, a five-member panel, currently has two vacancies, which Trump can fill through nominations. Last week the president withdrew the nomination of former FCC Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel.
