Well, here’s some good news. The FCC isn’t totally in Sinclair’s pocket

It’s safe to say that Ajit Pai isn’t going to be named Man of the Year from internet advocacy groups in 2018. Or ever, for that matter — his drive to eliminate net neutrality rules has made him Public (servant) Enemy No. 1 for the likes of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Free Press.

But on Monday, Pai did something that should at least stop his critics from claiming he’s completely in the pocket of Sinclair Broadcast Group. He registered his opposition to Sinclair’s blockbuster acquisition of Tribune Media’s television stations, a deal that would have allowed Sinclair to broadcast its right-wing (or perhaps more accurately, Trumpian) pronouncements into more than 60% of U.S. homes. If his colleagues agree with Pai, the deal will head to an administrative law judge for what’s likely to be a contentious review, rather than going to the commission for a vote to approve.

The sole Democrat on the commission, Jessica Rosenworcel, quickly agreed. A longtime critic of the deal, Rosenworcel took the occasion to lay into Pai: “As I have noted before, too many of this agency’s media policies have been custom built to support the business plans of Sinclair Broadcasting,” she said in a statement. “With this hearing designation order, the agency will finally take a hard look at its proposed merger with Tribune. This is overdue and favoritism like this needs to end.”