President-elect Donald Trump announced yesterday that Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brendan Carr will serve as the chairman of the FCC in his second administration, stating in a Trump-Vance transition press release:
I am pleased to announce that Commissioner Brendan Carr will be Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Commissioner Carr currently serves as the senior Republican on the FCC. Before that, he was the FCC’s General Counsel. I first nominated Commissioner Carr to the FCC in 2017, and he has been confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate three times. His current term runs through 2029 and, because of his great work, I will now be designating him as permanent Chairman.
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. He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America’s Job Creators and Innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America.
The Trump-Vance transition press release also included a biography on Carr, highlighting his career prior to being appointed as Chairman of the FCC:
Commissioner Carr has served at the FCC since 2012, including as an Advisor to then FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai. Earlier in his career, Commissioner Carr worked as an attorney specializing in Appellate, Litigation, and Regulatory matters. Previously, Commissioner Carr clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for Judge Dennis Shedd. After attending Georgetown University for his undergrad, Commissioner Carr earned his J.D. Magna Cum Laude from the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law where he served as an Editor of the Catholic University Law Review. Congratulations to Chairman Brendan Carr on a job well done. Lead us into a great future, Brendan!
In response to the announcement, Carr thanked Trump, stating in a post on X:
Thank you, President Trump! I am humbled and honored to serve as Chairman of the FCC. Now we get to work. 🇺🇸
Carr stated he will focus on protecting U.S. citizen’s First Amendment rights, announcing he will dismantle the “censorship cartel” within the FCC, and enforce its public interest obligation:
We must dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights for everyday Americans.
Broadcast media have had the privilege of using a scarce and valuable public resource—our airwaves. In turn, they are required by law to operate in the public interest. When the transition is complete, the FCC will enforce this public interest obligation.
After the nomination announcement, Carr noted that under Biden, one of the FCC’s top priorities was promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, stating in a post on X:
The FCC’s most recent budget request said that promoting DEI was the agency’s second highest strategic goal. Starting next year, the FCC will end its promotion of DEI.
When it comes to the FCC’s promotion of DEI, I have just one thing to say: Afuera!
During his time as the senior Republican at the FCC, Carr stated the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), chaired by the Treasury Department, should take action and ban the Chinese-owned app TikTok, due to the FCC not having the authority to do so. Carr primarily cited concerns that U.S. user data is being collected by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to Axios:
There simply isn’t “a world in which you could come up with sufficient protection on the data that you could have sufficient confidence that it’s not finding its way back into the hands of the [Chinese Communist Party]”
