FCC Chairman Brendan Carr defended the use of the "public interest standard" for broadcasters during a contentious House oversight hearing on Wednesday, while Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez sharply criticized it as an "undefined" and potentially unchecked tool.
The heated session before the House Energy and Commerce Committee focused on accusations that the FCC under Carr's leadership is overreaching into content regulation, potentially chilling speech critical of the Trump administration.
Democrats grilled Carr on recent actions, including warnings to broadcasters like ABC's Jimmy Kimmel and investigations into national networks over news programming. They accused him of turning the agency into a political weapon.Carr stood firm, arguing that Congress has long required the FCC to enforce the public interest standard on broadcasters—who use public airwaves and hold licenses accordingly.
In his written testimony, he stated: "Congress has instructed the FCC to enforce public interest requirements on broadcasters. The FCC should do exactly that." He emphasized that broadcast television faces unique obligations compared to cable, streaming, or digital platforms, and renewed enforcement helps hold stations accountable for issues like localism, news distortion, and broadcast hoaxes—without amounting to censorship.
Republicans on the committee largely supported Carr, highlighting his deregulatory efforts to modernize rules, expand spectrum access, and help local broadcasters compete against national networks and tech giants. They framed his approach as protecting infrastructure and rural connectivity rather than policing speech.
Commissioner Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the FCC, pushed back strongly. She described the public interest standard as an "undefined and unchecked concept," warning that Carr has asserted a "roving mandate to police speech that this administration does not like."
Gomez argued that broad application risks sliding into content regulation, violating First Amendment principles, and intimidating broadcasters from airing critical programming. She called for congressional guardrails to prevent such overreach and protect media independence.
The hearing also touched on related issues like broadcast ownership caps, with Democrats warning that loosening them could erode local journalism and diversity, while Carr and supporters said modernization is needed for stations to survive in a changing media landscape.
This marks another round of congressional scrutiny for Carr, following a similar Senate hearing last month where similar tensions arose over the same public interest enforcement and claims of political influence at the FCC.