Back in 2014 you might remember there was a giant, two-year, manufactured news cycle where Republicans pretended to be outraged that the then Obama White House had openly supported the FCC’s efforts to impose some modest net neutrality rules (designed to protect consumers and competition from telecom monopoly abuse of power).
At the time, major press outlets endlessly parroted Republican claims that the president’s perfectly legal public support of FCC policy was somehow underhanded, illegal, or applied undue pressure on an independent agency. Right wing friendly “think tanks” like the Hudson Institute suffered endless embolisms over the purported impropriety:
“The unwelcome assault on the independence of the FCC is a threat not merely to that agency. It is a threat to our entire system of government based on the rule of law. It is also a threat to the Internet. Where there is no rule of law, the Internet does not flourish.”
The Republican Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs even launched a two-year investigation culminating in a bogus report falsely claiming that there had been all sorts of nefarious intermingling between the White House and FCC. Republicans, I’ll repeat, were absolutely outraged that the White House would even open its mouth to comment on policy the agency was already pursuing.
Twelve years later and not only is net neutrality dead as a doornail thanks to corrupt collaboration between Republicans and telecom monopolies, but the FCC has taken up permanent residence inside the White House’s colon, making any claim of FCC independence laughable under Trumpism.
Or at least that’s the takeaway of this new report by the Guardian, which obtained documents via a Freedom of Information Act request and a lawsuit filed by the advocacy group Democracy Forward.
The documents show FCC boss Brendan Carr has had deep and intimate collaboration with both the White House and right wing propaganda companies as he’s pursued policies ranging from blatant censorship of of journalism and the media, to efforts to dismantle (at times illegally) consumer protections, media consolidation limits, and most corporate oversight:
“Between 12 March 2025 and 11 February 2026, Carr attended at least eight meetings at the White House, according to the records, and had at least three scheduled calls with administration officials, including two conversations with chief of staff Susie Wiles. He also spoke by phone with administration officials such as controversial health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
In addition, the files provide insight into Carr’s media strategy, including communications with producers at Fox News, and make public previously undisclosed meetings he has held with media titans such as Fox Corp chief executive Lachlan Murdoch and Sinclair Broadcast Group chair David Smith.”
That Carr is ignoring any pretense of agency independence, coordinating messaging with right wing agitprop factories like Fox News and Sinclair, and disproportionately meeting with right-wing friendly companies to their exclusive benefit shouldn’t surprise anybody and isn’t illegal (in a country with dead or dying corruption, lobbying, and influence-peddling laws), but it is a notable new high watermark for Republican hypocrisy. Twelve years ago, I’ll repeat, Republicans (including Carr, who had previously worked as an attorney at the agency), insisted the president even opening his mouth on policy was somehow illegal and an outrageous erosion of FCC independence.
The FCC is, to be clear, supposed to be independent from White House influence and meaningfully overseen by Congress. Though you might recall that last year in congressional testimony Carr raised eyebrows by insisting the agency is no longer independent — even going so far as to delete the word from the agency website.
Having regulators that are marionettes for the whims of your autocratic leadership is obviously corrupt and anti-democratic. Now it’s impossible to determine where Donald Trump’s incoherent whims begin and the FCC’s purported autonomy ends as Brendan Carr harasses media companies critical of the president, and strips away what’s left of U.S. consumer protection guardrails down to the studs.
Ultimately, I suspect the closest Carr will ever get to meaningful punishment is a revolving door gig at an AT&T-funded think tank where he whittles away the rest of his years getting paid high six figures to perpetuate the ongoing destruction of whatever’s left of U.S. public interest guardrails.