FCC chair suggests agency isn't independent, word cut from mission statement
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Brendan Carr during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee oversight hearing in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 17. Photo: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in his Wednesday Senate testimony that the agency he governs "is not an independent agency, formally speaking." During his testimony, the word "independent" was removed from the FCC's mission statement on its website.
Why it matters: The extraordinary statement speaks to a broader trend of regulatory agencies losing power to the executive branch during the Trump era.
- Last week, the Supreme Court appeared poised to allow President Trump to fire members of the Federal Trade Commission during oral arguments over the issue.
- The White House referred Axios to the FCC for comment.
- "With the change in administration earlier this year, the FCC's website and materials required updating," an FCC spokesperson said. "That work continues to ensure that they reflect the positions of the agency's new leadership."
Zoom in: Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) began the line of questioning, citing the FCC's website, which said the agency was independent as of Wednesday morning.
- "If this is lying, then you should just fix it," Lujan said. "That wasn't even my gotcha question."
- By Wednesday afternoon, the FCC's mission statement no longer said it was independent.
What we're watching: Carr would not respond directly to questions about whether he believed the president was his boss.
- He would not answer whether it's appropriate if the president were to pressure him to go after media companies. He suggested the president has the power to fire him and other FCC commissioners.
- Carr tried to push back against questions about the agency's independence from Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) by saying that the FCC makes decisions by vote, but ultimately, he conceded that Trump could remove any member of the commission for "any reason or no reason."
- "Do you think that's appropriate?" Kim asked.
- "It's up to the president to decide," Carr responded.
Between the lines: For years, Carr has supported lifting a national ownership cap that prevented local broadcasters from merging.
- Trump surprisingly said in November that he opposed that idea because removing the cap "would also allow the Radical Left Networks to 'enlarge,'" and "I would not be happy."
- During the hearing, Chairman Carr suggested that a decision about whether to remove a national ownership cap or broadcasters has not been made yet.
- He said the FCC is evaluating "constraining power of national programmers" over local syndicates in news, suggesting he is considering the president's point of view despite the fact that it goes against his years-long viewpoints.
Go deeper: What to know about Brendan Carr, Trump's FCC chair
Editor's note: This story has been updated with details throughout and a statement from the FCC.
