Tom Wheeler, the Democratic chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has announced he will resign at the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidential term, per Bloomberg. With Wheeler gone, Republicans will have a 2-1 majority on the FCC.
It’s customary for FCC chairman to resign when a new president takes office, but Wheeler had been playing coy about whether he would actually step down. This angered Republicans in Congress, who cited Wheeler’s reticence when refusing to confirm another Democratic FCC member, Jessica Rosenworcel, for another term. Indeed, it’s been reported that Wheeler is resigning to attempt to make a deal with the GOP Senate to reconfirm Rosenworcel. However, the Senate has gone on recess without renominating Rosenworcel. Her term expires at the end of this month, leaving the GOP with a 2-1 majority on the FCC.
Wheeler’s time as FCC chairman was marked by controversy because of his penchant for passing sweeping regulatory changes on party lines. The most consequential of those regulations was “net neutrality,” which requires internet providers not to privilege any form of web traffic over another. Proponents said that net neutrality would increase transparency and lower barriers to entry for new web services. Critics said that net neutrality would hinder the free market, and stifle innovation, and that it would require so much heavy handed government interference to enforce the web would become a de facto public utility.
Wednesday,Variety reported that repeal of net neutrality was a “priority,” according to Republican FCC commissioner Michael O’Rielly.
