FCC's Pai, Johnson Bow Out of D.C. Event

FCC chair Ajit Pai did not attend the Free State Foundation's policy conference Tuesday (March 10), though he did send a video version in his stead. Also a no-show was FCC General Counsel Tom Johnson. 

An FCC spokesperson confirmed that was due to coronavirus concerns.

The FCC announced its coronavirus policy March 4.

Pai and other commissioners did appear Tuesday (March 10) before the Senate Financial Services Committee at an FCC budget oversight hearing to talk about the C-Band auction and other issues. 

Other government officials did make the FSF conference, including Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and Federal Trade Commission general counsel Alden Abbott.

Free State announced during the conference that Commissioner Brendan Carr, who was also scheduled to speak, had also them he would not be appearing due to the virus concerns, though commissioner Michael O'Rielly did choose to appear.

According to CNN, the current stats for the virus in the U.S. are 849 confirmed cases in 36 states, with 27 deaths.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.