WASHINGTON -- Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced plans Monday to step down next year, capping a four-year stint atop the nation's telecom agency marked by contentious fights over his ambitious deregulatory agenda.
President Donald Trump tapped Pai, then a Republican commissioner, to serve as his first and only FCC chairman starting in 2017. Pai ultimately presided over some of the agency's most controversial decisions, including its highly contested effort three years ago to roll back net neutrality rules that had required internet providers to treat all web traffic equally.
His departure was widely expected, and timed to coincide with President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration Jan. 20. Biden can choose an acting chairperson from the agency's two Democratic members once he takes the White House as he decides on a more permanent leader, which may require Senate confirmation. But it seems increasingly likely that the FCC will be deadlocked at two Democrats and two Republicans entering 2021, perhaps delaying the incoming commission from acting on its agenda.
"It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve at the Federal Communications Commission, including as Chairman of the FCC over the past four years," Pai said in a statement, reflecting on the fact he was the first Asian American to chair the agency. "As I often say: only in America."
Spokespeople for Biden's transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reflecting on his tenure, Pai said Monday he had paved the way for the next generation of smartphone connectivity, known as 5G, including the auction of billions of dollars in wireless spectrum.
He said the commission also continued to close the country's persistent gaps in internet access and touted his work to streamline the agency's operations and regulations.