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Trump nominates top GOP FCC official Brendan Carr to lead agency
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Trump nominates top GOP FCC official Brendan Carr to lead agency

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday named Brendan Carr, the top Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency charged with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband.

Carr is a longtime member of the commission and previously served as general counsel of the FCC. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was appointed to the commission by Trump and President Joe Biden.

The FCC is an independent agency overseen by Congress, but Trump has suggested he wants to bring it under tighter control from the White House, in part to use the agency to punish TV stations that cover him. a way that he doesn’t like.

Carr has recently embraced Trump’s ideas on social media and technology. Carr wrote a section devoted to the FCC in “ Project 2025», an ambitious project for empty the federal workforce and the dismantling of federal agencies in a second Trump administration produced by the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Trump claimed he knew nothing about Project 2025, but many of its themes were consistent with his statements.

Carr said in a statement congratulating Trump on his victory that he believes “the FCC will have an important role to play in reining in big tech, ensuring broadcasters operate in the public interest and unlocking economic growth.”

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“Commissioner Carr is a free speech warrior and has fought against regulatory law that has stifled Americans’ freedoms and stunted our economy,” Trump said in a statement Sunday. “He will end the regulatory assault that has crippled America’s job creators and innovators, and ensure the FCC delivers for rural America.”

The five-person commission has a 3-2 Democratic majority until next year, when Trump can appoint a new member.

Carr has made appearances on Fox News Channel, including when he criticized the Democratic vice president. Kamala Harris ‘ appearance on ” Saturday Night Live » the weekend before the election — accusing the network of not offering Trump equal time.

Also a prolific writer of editorials, Carr wrote in a opinion article for the Wall Street Journal last month, denouncing the FCC’s decision to revoke a federal award for Elon Musk’s satellite service, Starlink. He said the decision could not be explained “by an objective application of facts, the law or sound policy.”

“In my view, this amounted to nothing more than regulatory legislation against one of the left’s primary targets: Mr. Musk,” Carr wrote.