“He has also abandoned the FCC’s posture as an independent regulator in favor of an openly personal embrace of Trump. Though picked by the president, FCC chairs of both parties for years have charted an independent course, launching investigations and passing rules that affect billions of dollars in corporate investment while being careful to operate at a distance from the White House.
No longer: In April, alongside officials at the Justice Department, Carr donned a golden pin featuring Donald Trump’s face. He’s become a familiar presence at Mar-a-Lago, and has flown with the president on Air Force One.
As he picks those norm-busting fights with the mainstream media, Carr is more quietly delivering on big deregulation promises to business interests. These moves are less headline-grabbing, but possibly more transformational.
Carr recently said he wants the FCC to get into the business of online speech, potentially making the commission a major enforcer against the content moderation decisions of the Big Tech platforms like Meta and Google. And despite his stepped-up scrutiny of some legacy networks and shows, he also wants to scale back government restrictions on the owners of individual radio and TV stations.
His tactics are a window into how even relatively stolid, independent Washington agencies are being transformed under the second Trump administration — expanding their remit, rewarding favored players and lending their weight to Trump’s highly personal fights.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/19/brendan-carr-fcc-cbs-media-00299588