Congressmen Call Out FCC's Ajit Pai Over 'Repeated Evasive Responses' on Net Neutrality and Other Inquiries

Several members of the 115th U.S. Congress recently sent a formal letter to Federal Communications Commission chair Ajit Pai calling out his “repeated evasive responses” regarding net neutrality and other issues.

In a letter dated Tuesday, May 22 (via TechCrunch), some of the congressmen from the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology (under the U.S. Congress Committee on Energy and Commerce) were pretty direct in rebuking Pai’s manner of addressing their previous inquiries.

Note though that the letter was only signed by the subcommittee’s minority members including ranking members Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Mike Doyle (D-PA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Dave Loebsack (D-IA), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), G. K. Butterfield (D-NC), Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Jerry McNerney (D-CA).

The lawmakers also opened the letter by stating that Pai showed “outright refusal to respond” to their previous inquiries one of which is the largely debated 2015 Open Internet policy or the basis for the so-called net neutrality. The congressmen claimed that Pai has either completely ignored or failed to provide substantial answers in the past.

In the May 22 letter, the congressmen attached an inquiry sent to Pai’s office on April 24, 2017, about the FCC chair’s then “proposed plans to undermine” the 2015 Open Internet order. It can be recalled that FCC commissioners moved to scrap the said policy in December 2017 with a 3-2 vote.

The lawmakers raised concerns and alleged that Pai had been “unable to give complete responses to verbal questions, questions for the record, or oversight letters from our members.” Part of the letter also reads, “We take our oversight responsibilities very seriously, and we expect witnesses before the Committee and recipients of our letters to treat their responses the same way.”

Furthermore, the congressmen reminded Pai of his previous promises including a time where he assured them he will “strive to be responsive” to Congress inquiries. The letter also recalled Pai saying that the FCC “is a creature of Congress,” therefore, the commission promised to always inform the Congress of their plans.

However, the concerned subcommittee minority members deem Pai had fallen short in delivering those promises.

In the end, the FCC chair was once again asked to submit written responses to all attached inquiries on or before June 4.