WASHINGTON — Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican, says he is leaving the telecommunications regulator on Inauguration Day.
President-elect Joe Biden will choose a new Democratic head for the agency. A new administration typically picks a new chairman.
Pai has presided over a contentious FCC over the last four years.
He undid net neutrality rules that barred internet service providers like Comcast and AT&T from favoring some types of online traffic over others in 2017 and championed other deregulatory efforts.
“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. "To be the first Asian-American to chair the FCC has been a particular privilege. As I often say: only in America."
The incoming FCC chair is likely to try to reinstate net neutrality rules and focus on getting internet service to more Americans.
