President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday he will select Project 2025 co-author Brendan Carr as the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
Carr, a Republican who has worked at the FCC since 2012, vowed to “dismantle the censorship cartel” at Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft and “restore free speech” for Americans.
The FCC commissioner is the author of the FCC chapter of Project 2025, a right-wing agenda published by the Heritage Foundation that promotes dismantling federal agencies and replacing the federal workforce with Trump loyalists.
“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,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday. “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 FCC is an independent agency that regulates TV and radio broadcasting, as well as internet service providers. If he becomes chairman, Carr has indicated he will punish news organizations that negatively cover Trump. Earlier this month, he slammed NBC over Vice President Kamala Harris’ appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” claiming it broke an FCC rule that required political candidates to be provided equal air time.
“The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct — a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election,” he wrote on X.
The media advocacy group Free Press said in a statement that Carr was wrong about the equal time rule, noting that networks “have no legal obligation to set aside broadcast time for opposing candidates, unless the candidates request it.”
Carr is also a vocal supporter of billionaire Elon Musk, accusing Democrats of over-regulating Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service. As chairman, Carr could steer billions in federal subsidies to Musk’s satellite internet business.
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