FCC Chair Carr Lays Out Hard-Hitting Plan—Big Changes Ahead?

Brendan Carr is the Federal Communications Commission’s chair and he works to implement the agenda of President Donald Trump at the agency.

Carr told Punchbowl News that he intends to send a letter to Disney inquiring about the company’s initiatives on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Carr stated that the DEI program of the company might violate FCC requirements regarding equal employment opportunities for licensees.

Carr said that he would block any mergers if the company involved in DEI was regulated by the FCC.

Carr launched an investigation last month into DEI programs at Verizon and Comcast. Bloomberg reports that Carr’s decision to block mergers or acquisitions may threaten major communications deals, such as Paramount Global’s merging with Skydance Media and Verizon’s acquiring Frontier Communications.

Carr told Bloomberg, “We can only move forward with a transaction under the statute if it serves the public’s interest.”

Carr has said he will investigate NPR and PBS over the airing of commercials. He is also looking into complaints that CBS, NBC, and ABC were dismissed for their coverage of the 2024 presidential election. Carr told Punchbowl that he would be “evenhanded” with his approach.

Punchbowl reported that during Carr’s tenure as chairman, Carr approved Starlink’s proposal for direct-to-cell services with T-Mobile despite the opposition from Verizon and AT&T. Elon Musk is the owner of Starlink, and he also oversees the Department of Government Efficiency.

Punchbowl reported that Carr denied giving Musk’s company an unfair advantage, citing partnerships between Globalstar, Apple, and Amazon’s Project Kuiper.

Carr told Punchbowl, “That’s an excellent amount of competition considering where we are at in terms of the development of space services.”