WASHINGTON — Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr will face Senate questioning Wednesday for the first time since he pressured broadcasters to take ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air, a stance that drew bipartisan criticism and raised concerns about government interference in the media.
Carr will appear before the Senate Commerce committee for an oversight hearing that will also include the FCC’s two other commissioners, Olivia Trusty and Anna M. Gomez. It will be the first Senate Commerce oversight hearing with all FCC commissioners since 2020, though there are two vacancies on the five-member panel.
Since being tapped by President Donald Trump last November to lead the nation’s top broadcast regulator, Carr has closely aligned with the administration’s aggressive posture toward media outlets it views as hostile. He has launched FCC investigations into ABC, CBS and NBC News, in addition to some local stations.
Trump in his second term has sued The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and, most recently, the BBC. And at Trump’s urging, Congress this summer approved eliminating $1.1 billion allocated to public broadcasting.
Earlier this year, Carr came under fire from lawmakers in both parties after he denounced Kimmel’s comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. He called Kimmel’s remarks “truly sick” and warned broadcasters, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Hours later, ABC announced Kimmel had been suspended in