Regulators are telling nine companies that they will not be allowed to participate in a federal program meant to help provide affordable Internet access to low-income consumers, weeks after the firms had been given the green light to do so.

The move, announced Friday by Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, reverses a decision by his Democratic predecessor, Tom Wheeler.

Pai called the initial decisions a form of “midnight regulation.”

“These last-minute actions, which did not enjoy the support of the majority of commissioners at the time they were taken, should not bind us going forward,” he said in a statement.

The program, known as Lifeline, provides registered households with a $9.25-a-month credit that can be used to buy home Internet service. As many as 13 million Americans may be eligible for Lifeline but do not have broadband service at home, the FCC has found.