FCC Chairman Pai's bind: Defend President Trump or free speech

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is facing increasing pressure to distance himself from President Donald Trump’s threats against NBC — a course of action that would risk provoking the president’s Twitter-fueled wrath. Democrats have refused to let the issue die in recent days, with FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel warning that “history won't be kind to silence" on Trump's threats to the First Amendment. Chairman Pai could confront public questions about the issue as soon as Oct 17 at a telecom law event in Washington, forcing him to choose between his longstanding defense of freedom of speech and the man who made him chairman. If Chairman Pai weighs in, he risks repeating the pattern of other Trump appointees whose words and actions have drawn the president's ire and imperiled their positions in the government.

“Ajit is in a really very awkward situation, but I assure you he is on our side — we being the people who generally believe in free speech,” said Berin Szóka, president of libertarian group TechFreedom, which supports Pai's FCC agenda. “I think it’s unfair to jump up and down and insist that if he doesn’t pick a fight with the president, he doesn’t really care about the First Amendment.” Szóka outlined several scenarios in which President Trump could act to retaliate if he doesn't like what the FCC chairman has to say. President Trump could demote Chairman Pai to commissioner and elevate another FCC Republican, Mike O’Rielly or Brendan Carr, to chairman, although Szóka noted that both are probably similar to Chairman Pai when it comes to their positions on the First Amendment. President Trump could also replace Commissioner O'Rielly with a "loyalist" and name that person chairman when the term is up in 2019.