No Funding for the FCC While Carr Weaponizes It Against Free Speech

Again and again, Brendan Carr has engaged in textbook abuses of power as chair of the FCC. He’s leading an attack on our freedom of speech, and you must force his removal to protect the First Amendment. Carr has repeatedly tried to censor media critics of the White House and even accurate press coverage when it reflects poorly on President Trump, and has made little to no effort to hide his agenda: ensuring Trump and his billionaire backers control what we’re allowed to say and hear. He’s targeted late night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, daytime TV and straight news coverage. He’s threatened the media for reporting on ICE raids, wrongful deportations, and failures during wartime, demanding they act as a state mouthpiece rather than tell the truth. He’s made it clear that the approval of mergers and the application of regulatory standards depends on whether news outlets toe the line. And it’s having an impact: a veteran political reporter sidelined after Carr went after his station commented that “‘chilling effect does not begin to describe the neutering of our political coverage.’” We need a full congressional investigation into Carr’s misconduct. But some of his most blatant efforts to silence and coerce the press have played out right in the open. We have plenty of evidence that he is undermining our constitutional rights. Every member of Congress should be demanding he resign, now. In the likely event he refuses to do so, they should oppose any further appropriations to the Federal Communications Commission as long as he remains in charge. He needs to be stopped from weaponizing the government against the public, and if he won’t leave his position then his position must be stripped of its power.