Ajit Pai to be fourth senior Indian American in Trump administration

The 44-year-old Ajit Pai is expected to be elevated to head the Federal Communication Commission in US President Donald Trump’s administration.

US President Donald Trump is expected to elevate Indian American Ajit Pai to head the Federal Communication Commission. Pai is already in the leadership team of the body as the senior Republican serving as commissioner since 2012.

Ajit Pai, who was named to the Federal Communication Commission by former president Barack Obama, served in several positions in the department of justice and the US Congress.(Twitter/Ajit Rai)

Pai, 44, will be the fourth senior level Indian American in Trump’s administration, following Nikki Haley, nominated US ambassador to UN (a cabinet-rank position); Seema Verma, head of medicare and medicaid; and Preet Bharara, US attorney for the southern District of New York.

The Federal Communication Commission, which is an independent body overseen by the US Congress, regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in the country.

Pai, who was named to the commission by former president Barack Obama, is a lawyer by training. He went to the University of Harvard and the University of Chicago, and served in several positions in the department of justice and the US Congress.

His stint in the US Senate judiciary committee will prove crucial to him as he was deputy counsel then to Senator Jeff Sessions, who was then heading the subcommittee on administrative oversight and the court. Sessions is expected to be a powerful voice in the Trump administration now as attorney general, if confirmed.