Brendan Carr on March 3. Photo: Lluis Gene/AFP via Getty Images
The FCC is putting more muscle into investigations as chair Brendan Carr wields the agency's bully pulpit powers.
Why it matters: The MAGA movement is leading tech agencies to reimagine the work they've traditionally done and the role they play.
- While the FCC is an independent agency under the law responsible to Congress, Carr's moves since becoming chair show he's in clear lockstep with President Trump.
State of play: The FCC's speech authorities are limited, but Carr has shown a willingness to use the agency's licensing powers to wade into content moderation debates that previous chairs have not.
- He has reopened investigations into CBS, ABC, and NBC that former chair Jessica Rosenworcel dismissed, and launched new investigations into NPR, PBS, and San Francisco-based radio station KCBS over editorial decisions.
- He has also targeted tech's Section 230 liability shield, recently questioning whether YouTube is discriminating against faith-based channels.
- In the letter to YouTube, Carr said he's considering expanding the agency's rules to have more authority over multichannel video programming distributors like YouTube TV.
The rule expansion would come as the Trump administration claims to want to slash government regulation.
- A recent executive order gives agency heads the right to stop enforcing regulations without a vote and come up with a list of regs that should be eliminated by mid-April.
- Carr has launched a "Delete, Delete, Delete" docket to get the public's feedback on what should be eliminated that so far includes a little more than 100 submissions, largely from individuals.
Carr's probes have also been unusually public, New Street Research policy adviser and former Democratic FCC commissioner Blair Levin said.
- FCC resources are being used to solicit public feedback on the Kamala Harris "60 Minutes" CBS investigation alleging news distortion. At the top of its consumer complaints page, there's a comment portal link for anyone to directly weigh in.
- "We did investigations all the time, and we investigated quietly. Then if there's a problem, it becomes public. No FCC chair that I'm aware of publicly started an investigation by accusing the companies of crimes without any evidence," Levin said.
"The FCC welcomes this opportunity to efficiently deliver great results for the American people and advance policies that President Trump established," Carr said in a statement to Axios.
Between the lines: Carr's investigative agenda doesn't require a Republican majority to vote, and has largely been about messaging and using the agency as a bully pulpit to spark action in Congress.
- Ultimately, changes to Section 230, for example, would require lawmakers to pass a law and Carr has called on Congress to stop funding PBS and NPR.
- But lawmakers have historically been unable to agree on what to do about tech, from the industry's liability shield to its content moderation decisions.
- And Democrats like Sen. Richard Blumenthal are fighting back against Carr's actions, launching an inquiry into the "political targeting" of newsrooms.
What we're watching: While the first few months of Carr's FCC have been mostly about media investigations, we're anticipating that spectrum and the space industry priorities will heat up.
- The agency's policy moves will be limited until Congress reauthorizes its spectrum auction authority and Republicans gain a majority, but we expect bureau-level action to continue.
- Republicans could have an even stronger hold on the agency as Democratic commissioner Geoffrey Starks on Tuesday announced he will step down this spring.
