The most contentious moments at the December 17, 2025, Senate oversight hearing on the Federal Communications Commission centered on Chairman Brendan Carr, who faced sharp Democratic criticism for allegedly politicizing the agency through threats to review broadcaster licenses over content critical of President Trump.
Carr defended his actions as enforcement of existing public interest obligations, the broadcast hoax rule, and news distortion policies, insisting he was holding broadcasters accountable rather than engaging in censorship or retaliation. He notably declared the FCC is "not independent" in a formal sense—due to the lack of for-cause removal protections in the Communications Act—and refused to rule out actions against stations airing critical content.
During the hearing, the FCC website was quietly updated to remove prior language describing the agency as "independent" after senators highlighted the discrepancy.
Democratic senators, including Ed Markey—who dubbed the FCC the "Federal Censorship Commission" and called for Carr's resignation—and Amy Klobuchar, accused him of violating the First Amendment and eroding free speech.
Republicans, led by Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, largely supported Carr's approach.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) highlighted the FCC's website, which at the time described it as "an independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress." Shortly after Carr's testimony—while the hearing was ongoing—the website was updated to remove the word "independent," now describing the FCC simply as "a U.S. government agency overseen by Congress."
Republican Commissioner Olivia Trusty echoed Carr, noting the lack of statutory protections against removal and stating, "We aren’t independent." Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez countered that the FCC is independent and "we should be."
An FCC spokesperson later explained the website change as part of ongoing updates following the change in administration earlier in the year, to align materials with the positions of new leadership.
