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Can he really do that? Brendan Carr rips the FCC out of Congress’ control and hands it to Trump

After appearing before the Senate last week to discuss his handling of September’s Jimmy Kimmel fiasco, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr immediately went to work on the FCC’s website, removing all descriptions of the org as an “independent agency overseen by Congress.”

Only hours before, Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), among many others, grilled Carr, reminding him of the landing page’s descriptor. Was the FCC’s website lying, Carr was asked? (Cue the 1:33 mark below to see this exchange.)

“Possibly,” Carr shockingly responded. “The FCC is not an independent agency.”

As recently as 2023, Carr himself argued the agency was indeed independent, amid a push by the FCC’s progressive wing to pull the licenses of local Fox stations following their coverage of the 2020 election and the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the nation’s Capitol. Despite a lack of evidence, Fox stations reported the Trump administration’s assertion that the election was “rigged.” Many on the left equated that to “calling fire in a crowded theater,” dangerous speech unprotected by the First Amendment.