Dems press FCC Chair Carr over Kimmel, agency’s independence

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats had the opportunity to grill Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr on Wednesday –– for the first time since he pressured ABC to take host Jimmy Kimmel off the air over the late-night comedian’s comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk earlier this year.

Carr defended his remarks during the nearly three-hour hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, contending that “broadcast TV is fundamentally different than many other forms of media” and that same rules do not apply to cable television or social media.  

“What I am saying is any broadcaster that uses the airways, whether radio or TV, has to comply with the public interest in it,” Carr said. “And licenses are not sacred cows. Yes, you can do things to lose a license.”

The FCC issues licenses for stations to broadcast on public airwaves at specific frequencies. 

Carr was joined by the FCC’s two commissioners, Olivia Trusty and Anna M. Gomez, on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The five-member panel has two open seats, after a Democrat and Republican stepped down over the summer. 

During Wednesday’s hearing, the FCC chair faced sharp questions from Democrats on the committee about the chain of events leading to ABC’s suspension of Kimmel, which drew some bipartisan criticism.

Carr had called the late-night host’s remarks about Kirk’s assassination “truly sick” during an interview and noted the FCC’s role in granting broadcast licenses. In his opening monologue on Sept. 15, Kimmel said “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.” There is no evidence the suspect in Kirk’s killing supported Trump.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said while talking with conservative podcast host Benny Johnson. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Kimmel’s indefinite suspension was announced just hours afterward. ABC then brought the late-night host back less than a week later.

“Do you think it is appropriate to use your position to threaten companies that broadcast political satire?” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked him Wednesday.

“I think any licensee that operates on the public airwaves has a responsibility to comply with the public interest standard, and that’s been the case for decades,” Carr responded.

Several lawmakers compared Carr’s recent remarks with sentiments he had expressed on social media before President Donald Trump tapped him to head the agency that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable across the U.S. In 2019, Carr posted on the social media known then as Twitter: “The FCC does not have a roving mandate to police speech in the name of the ‘public interest.'”

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who had called Carr’s comments “dangerous as hell” in September, raised his own concerns at the start of the hearing. 

“Jimmy Kimmel is angry, overtly partisan and profoundly unfunny. That sadly is true for most late-night comedians today,” Cruz said, adding that “ABC and its affiliates would have been fully within their rights to fire him or simply to no longer air his program.

“But what government cannot do is force private entities to take actions that the government cannot take directly,” the Texas lawmaker said. “Government officials threatening adverse consequences for disfavored content is an unconstitutional coercion that chills free speech.”

Cruz, who chairs the committee, also repeatedly criticized Democrats, citing perceived First Amendment violations during former President Joe Biden’s administration –– including allegations of content moderation over social media regarding COVID-19 vaccines. 

Carr himself also frequently sought to shift the focus of the hearing back to the previous administration in his answers to Democrats’ questions, including with Klobuchar.

“Joe Biden is no longer president,” the Minnesota lawmaker told Carr. “You are head of the FCC, and Donald Trump is president, and I’m trying to deal with this right now.”

Carr –– as well as Trusty, an appointee of Trump –– also asserted that the FCC is not an independent agency because their roles do not have for-cause removal protections. Gomez, who was appointed by Biden in 2023, disagreed.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., noted that the FCC website described it as an “independent U.S. government agency” –– language from the FCC’s overview page that appears to have been changed to remove the word “independent” during Carr’s testimony, based on internet records.

The description of the FCC as an “independent regulatory agency” remained visible on at least one FCC webpage Wednesday afternoon.

In a later exchange, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., cited comments Carr made during a March 2022 congressional hearing.

“‘Congress long ago determined that the FCC is an independent expert agency. Is that correct or not?” the New Jersey lawmaker asked Carr, who replied that there had been a “sea change” in the interpretation of the law governing the agency over the last few years. 

Kim questioned Carr as to whether he considered Trump his boss, to which the FCC chair noted that decisions are made by a quorum of the FCC, and the lawmaker ended on an inquiry about whether Carr thought it would be appropriate for the president to remove an FCC commissioner if he disagreed with their decision.

“It’s up to the president to decide,” Carr said.