32 Facts About Ajit Pai

1. Ajit Pai is married to Janine Van Lancker, an allergist in the Washington DC area.

2. Ajit Pai took Ajit Pai's original repeal and performed a few edits.

3. Ajit Pai raised concerns about the increased use of contraband cell phones in prisons.

4. Ajit Pai urged the commission to settle the nine-year-old contributions reform proceeding for the Universal Service Fund by the end of the year.

5. Ajit Pai introduced the idea of creating an IP Transition Task Force to expedite the country's transition to all-IP networks.

6. Ajit Pai discussed how the FCC can help promote economic growth and enhance job creation in the information and communications technology field by adhering to three basic principles: the FCC should be as nimble as the industry it oversees; (2) the FCC should prioritize the removal of regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment; and (3) the FCC should accelerate its efforts to allocate additional spectrum for mobile broadband.

7. Ajit Pai is seen as a closer ally to broadcasters than to other members of the FCC.

8. Ajit Pai was confirmed by the US Senate for the additional five-year term on October 2, 2017.

9. Ajit Pai was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on May 7, 2012, and was sworn in on May 14, 2012, for a term that concluded on June 30, 2016.

10. Ajit Pai held that position until February 2005, when he was hired as Chief Counsel to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights.

11. Ajit Pai was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on May 7, 2012, and was sworn in on May 14, 2012, for a five-year term.

12. Ajit Pai has served in various positions at the FCC since being appointed to the commission by President Barack Obama in May 2012, at the recommendation of Mitch McConnell.

13. Ajit Pai is the first Indian American to hold the office.

14. In 2017, Ajit Pai publicly complained that net neutrality protesters had targeted his family.

15. Ajit Pai lives in Arlington, Virginia, with Van Lancker and their two children.

16. Ajit Pai argued the rules had been improperly circumvented by the previous Democratic chairman, former lobbyist Tom Wheeler.

17. Ajit Pai opposed the FCC imposition of "safe harbor" of 12 cents with a cap of 21 cents on private ICS providers like GTL and CenturyLink Public Communications, arguing instead for a "simple proposal to cap interstate rates, with one rate for jails and a lower rate for prisons" that are cost-based to protect providers and ensure "some return on investment.

18. Ajit Pai argued against adoption of the FCC 2013 analysis and proposed rulemaking regarding the high cost of inmate telephone calls, referred to as Inmate Calling Service by the FCC.

19. In the video, Ajit Pai is shown dancing next to Martina Markota, a proponent of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory and a staff member at the Daily Caller, the media outlet that produced the video.

20. In response to criticism from Ruffalo, Ajit Pai said "Getting rid of government authority over the Internet is the exact opposite of authoritarianism.

21. In a hearing on net neutrality in 2014, Ajit Pai said that he was committed to a free and open internet and that it was not the FCC's role to determine net neutrality.

22. In 2017, Ajit Pai removed from circulation a proposal introduced by Tom Wheeler which would have required cable providers to make their programming available on third-party devices.

23. Ajit Pai wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in 2014 criticizing a proposed FCC study of the news-gathering practices of media organizations.

24. Ajit Pai called for a reinvigoration of Section 7 of the Communications Act, which gives the commission a one-year deadline to review proposals for new technologies and services.

25. Ajit Pai gave his first major speech since taking office on July 18, 2012, at Carnegie Mellon University.

26. Ajit Pai has been an advocate for less regulation during his tenure on the FCC.

27. In 2011, Ajit Pai was then nominated for a Republican Party position on the Federal Communications Commission by President Barack Obama at the recommendation of Minority leader Mitch McConnell.

28. In 2010, Ajit Pai was one of 55 individuals nationwide chosen for the 2011 Marshall Memorial Fellowship, a leadership development initiative of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

29. Ajit Pai attended his local high school, Parsons Senior High School, and graduated in 1990.

30. Ajit Pai was born on January 10, 1973, in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in Parsons, Kansas.

31. Ajit Pai is a proponent of repealing net neutrality in the United States and, on December 14, 2017, voted with the majority of the FCC to reverse the decision to regulate the internet under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934.

32. Ajit Pai was confirmed by the US Senate for an additional five-year term on October 2, 2017.