FCC Chair Brendan Carr is Target for Congressional Oversight If Dems Defy Odds, Take Senate
People who pay attention to this topic — both experts and people like you and me — have been skeptical of claims that Democrats are charting a course to retake the Senate in the fall. Regardless, and as they should, Democrats are starting to think about what they would do with control of the Senate.
We got a new look at the situation today, as a dozen top Senate Democrats now consider what could happen to Brendan Carr if Democrats find a way to take back the upper chamber in November.
Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, uses his position to serve as Trump’s “roving censor,” repeatedly threatening broadcasters who allow stories on the airwaves that run counter to the White House agenda. He threatened a review of broadcasters’ operating licenses in response to Trump’s dissatisfaction with media coverage of his war with Iran. He opened investigations into talk show hosts interviewing Democratic candidates on their shows. He repeatedly threatened Disney, which owns ABC, for allowing Jimmy Kimmel to continue to hold a job after the comedian made jokes about Trump. He recently ordered that Disney’s broadcast licenses be subject to expedited review, ostensibly due to DEI policies, although the move appears to be, in reality, driven by the administration’s latest tensions with Kimmel.
All of this is to say that, as much as anyone in the administration, Carr has been creative and aggressive in using his position for Trumpian retaliation, seeking to censor the news Americans consume and carrying out Trump’s years-long vendetta against the news media.
A group of senior Senate Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), sent a letter to Carr on Thursday demanding that Carr rescind his order to review Disney’s licensing.
“This order is the latest and most extreme step in your use of the FCC’s licensing authority as a cudgel against broadcasters whose editorial choices displease the President,” they wrote. “You have effectively transformed the FCC’s authority over the public airwaves into an instrument of presidential retaliation against constitutionally protected speech.”
“While the FCC has the authority to ensure that broadcasters operate in the public interest, it cannot serve as a roving censor for President Trump, threatening to revoke the licenses of broadcasters whose editorial content – including a comedian’s jokes – displeases the President,” the letter continued.
Democrats are asking Carr to respond to their requests by May 21 and answer questions about contact he had with the White House before the order was issued.
While the letter foreshadows how Democrats might oversee the agency if they win back a majority in either chamber, backlash to Carr’s various egregious retaliation plans has been bipartisan. “I think the federal government and the FCC probably shouldn’t be involved in regulating humor,” Sen. Rand Paul told Politico. Even Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) questioned Carr’s latest actions.
“I have been very clear for a long time that the federal government should not engage in censorship, that it is not the role of the FCC to be the speech police,” said Cruz, who serves on the Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the FCC.
More Democracy Watch: Forgiveness Edition
Per CBS News:
Senate and House Democrats have launched an investigation into whether pardons and commutations issued by President Trump were motivated by a “pay-to-play dynamic,” according to letters obtained by CBS News.
Among the pardons considered by lawmakers are those granted to cryptocurrency billionaire Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty to money laundering; Joseph Schwartz, retirement home operator, convicted of tax crimes; and entrepreneur Trevor Milton, sentenced to four years in prison in 2023 after being found guilty of lying to investors.
Mark Kelly could beat Hegseth
Judges on a federal appeals court on Thursday appeared likely to oppose Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plans to demote retired Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and cut his benefits — a series of actions Hegseth took after Trump made death threats against Kelly and some other Democrats for telling service members they should refuse to follow illegal orders.
By Politico:
A district judge’s ruling in February found the move amounted to placing unconstitutional limits on political speech by retired military personnel, prompting Hegseth to appeal.
The three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals harshly questioned administration lawyers Thursday about the reasons for the Pentagon’s decision, signaling that they are unlikely to depart from the lower court ruling that blocked Hegseth’s attempt to punish Kelly and concluded that it amounted to a violation of the Democratic senator’s free speech rights.
Alligator Alcatraz is too expensive for Ron 🙁
Florida officials have reportedly discussed with the Trump administration the closure of the Everglades immigrant detention center — which the DeSantis administration and Trump’s various online supporters have ghoulishly dubbed Alligator Alcatraz — due to the high cost of operating it. According to the New York Times, which quotes a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement official and someone close to Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration:
The closure talks are preliminary, the sources said. But Department of Homeland Security officials concluded it was too expensive to continue operating the center, known as Alligator Alcatraz. Homeland Security officials also came to view the center as ineffective, the federal official said. The three people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions.
In case you missed it
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Layla A. Jones: American workers receive record pay based on their productivity
Kate Riga and Khaya Himmelman continue our coverage of Callais To fall: Southern states rush to redraw maps as John Roberts goes on the defensive
New edition of The Franchise by Khaya Himmelman, released this afternoon: The Red State Rush to Eliminate Black Voting Power Was More Egregious Than Expected
Morning memo: GOP Rushes to Consolidate Structural Power Advantages
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Indiana Republicans Who Wouldn’t Bow to Trump’s Pressure See Big Losses in Primary
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Trump calls for Jeffries to be charged with ‘incitement of violence’ in social media post
Kash Patel ordered polygraph tests on more than two dozen members of his team, sources say
