Trump Goes With Brendan Carr To Be FCC Chairman

President-elect Donald J. Trump on Sunday chose Brendan Carr to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, naming a veteran Republican regulator who has publicly agreed with the incoming administration’s promises to slash regulation, go after Big Tech and punish TV networks for political bias.

Brendan Carr

The NY Times reports Carr, who currently sits on the commission, is expected to shake up a quiet agency that licenses airwaves for radio and TV, regulates phone costs, and promotes the spread of home internet. Before the election, Mr. Trump indicated he wanted the agency to strip broadcasters like NBC and CBS of their licensing for unfair coverage.

Carr, 45, was the author of a chapter on the FCC. in the conservative Project 2025 planning document, in which he argued that the agency should also regulate the largest tech companies, such as Apple, Meta, Google and Microsoft.

Carr could drastically reshape the independent agency, expanding its mandate and wielding it as a political weapon for the right, telecommunications attorneys and analysts said. They predicted Carr would test the legal limits of the agency’s power by pushing to oversee companies like Meta and Google, setting up a fierce battle with Silicon Valley.

“Commissioner Carr is a warrior for free speech, and has fought against the regulatory lawfare that has stifled Americans’ freedoms, and held back our economy,” Mr. Trump said in a statement.

Congress oversees the FCC’s budget, and it would likely take new legislation to expand the agency’s regulatory oversight over companies like Google and Meta, which are not defined as communications services, legal experts said. The commission under the Trump administration would comprise three Republicans and two Democrats.

The FCC is also prohibited from punishing television and radio stations for editorial decisions, except for uses of obscenities and violations of children’s television rules.

Carr, a career telecommunications attorney, received a law degree from the Catholic University in Washington. He joined the FCC as a legal adviser in 2012 and became general counsel five years later.

Earlier this month, Carr used the social network X to attack Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft for playing "central roles in the censorship cartel," which he said "must be dismantled." The billionaire Elon Musk — who owns X, advises Trump and has backed Carr's prospects for the FCC chairmanship — reposted his claims and announcement.

Carr has backed federal legislation that would punish social media companies that block or suspend users for their "viewpoints," an allegation that Musk and other conservatives have lodged against the tech giants.

Carr also supported a law passed by Congress to ban TikTok. "I just don't see a path forward where we can allow this app to continue to operate in its current form," he told NPR in 2022. Trump originally supported the ban too. But he reversed his position on the Chinese-owned app after meeting a major donor with a stake in its parent company.

Carr has also backed Trump's call for licenses to be stripped from all three major broadcast networks for coverage choices that he has denounced. Carr slammed NBC for inviting Vice President Kamala Harris onto Saturday Night Live for a skit just days before Election Day. Carr argued that might have violated federal rules that seek to ensure candidates receive an opportunity for equal time on broadcasters, with an exception for legitimate news coverage.