Brendan Carr: Trump’s FCC Henchman
Trump’s Loyal Regulator
Brendan Carr is not a household name like Steve Bannon or Roger Stone, but make no mistake: he’s one of the most dangerous figures in Donald Trump’s orbit. A career telecom lawyer turned regulator, Carr climbed the ranks inside the FCC by serving as Ajit Pai’s right-hand man. He then leveraged his inside connections into a commissioner role under Trump in 2017, where he became one of the key votes to dismantle net neutrality. That single act, cheered by telecom giants, gutted one of the most important consumer protections of the digital age.
Fast forward to 2025: Carr is now Trump’s hand-picked Chair of the Federal Communications Commission and his agenda is straight out of the authoritarian playbook. By weaponizing communications policy to serve Trump’s personal vendettas, Carr has cemented his place in the Trump Hall of Shame.
How Carr Got into Trump’s Orbit
Legal Insider: Before Trump’s rise, Carr was general counsel at the FCC, working closely with Ajit Pai, the industry-friendly regulator Trump made chair in 2017.
Trump’s First Appointment: In 2017, Trump nominated Carr to fill a commissioner seat. Carr quickly aligned himself with Trump’s deregulatory agenda, particularly the repeal of net neutrality in 2017–2018.
A Reliable Ally: Carr consistently echoed Trump’s talking points on “fake news,” Big Tech “bias,” and deregulation. His loyalty and willingness to turn policy into politics made him indispensable.
Project 2025: Carr’s Blueprint for Authoritarian Control
Carr didn’t just support Trump, he wrote the FCC playbook for Trump’s second term. In the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, Carr authored the chapter on the FCC, making him one of the few sitting regulators to openly draft a partisan agenda for a future administration. That’s not normal, historically FCC chairs and commissioners keep policy recommendations within the agency, not inside political war manuals.
Carr’s chapter reads less like a neutral regulatory vision and more like an ideological manifesto. It framed the FCC not as a consumer watchdog, but as a tool for reining in Trump’s perceived enemies in the media and tech sector. By repeatedly invoking “bias” and “censorship,” Carr echoed Trump’s narrative that Silicon Valley and mainstream outlets were conspiring against conservatives. This language wasn’t accidental, it was written to provide the intellectual justification for government crackdowns on speech.
His FCC blueprint outlined:
Weaponizing the FCC Against Big Tech: Carr called for reinterpreting the FCC’s mandate to go after social media companies for supposed “bias.” That amounts to government intrusion into online speech.
Rolling Back Section 230 Protections: He pushed for weakening the legal shield that protects platforms from liability for user content, effectively inviting more government pressure on what can and cannot be published.
Deregulating Telecom Giants: Carr’s chapter prioritized industry profits over consumers, reducing oversight of internet service providers and further consolidating corporate power.
Media Hostility: The language in his chapter parroted Trump’s own grievances against mainstream news outlets, framing the FCC as a tool to “check” critical media.
Critics rightly called this anti-democratic, warning that Carr’s chapter reimagined the FCC not as a neutral regulator, but as a partisan enforcer for Trump. House Democrats even demanded an ethics review of Carr’s involvement, arguing it blurred the line between independent regulator and political operative.
What Carr Is Doing Now as FCC Chair
Since taking over the chairmanship in January 2025, Carr has wasted no time in turning his Project 2025 blueprint into policy. He has aligned the FCC’s priorities not with protecting consumers, but with protecting Donald Trump’s political interests.
Targeting Jimmy Kimmel and ABC: In one of his first high-profile interventions, Carr used the weight of his office to pressure Disney and ABC after Jimmy Kimmel made scathing remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk. With affiliates panicking and the FCC dangling regulatory scrutiny, Jimmy Kimmel Live! was abruptly pulled off the air. This was a textbook example of government intimidation of speech, sending a message to other media figures: criticize Trump and risk your platform.
Expanding Government Oversight of Speech: Carr has framed social media platforms and news outlets as “biased censors,” arguing the FCC must step in. This is a dangerous reinterpretation of the FCC’s mission, one that risks creating state-mandated control over online expression. His rhetoric echoes Trump’s own tirades against “fake news” and Big Tech, transforming what should be a neutral regulator into a political weapon.
Continuing Deregulation for Industry Allies: While clamping down on critics of Trump, Carr has gone the other direction with telecom giants. He has rolled back enforcement actions against internet service providers, eased merger reviews, and limited consumer oversight. That leaves Americans with fewer protections against monopolistic broadband practices, higher prices, and fewer choices.
Redefining the FCC’s Public Mission: Carr has deliberately shifted the FCC’s language away from consumer rights and into Trump’s culture war framework. Instead of focusing on equitable access to broadband, rural deployment, or public safety communications, Carr’s FCC speeches highlight “fighting censorship,” “holding Big Tech accountable,” and “restoring fairness” buzzwords that mask an agenda of partisan control.
Carr’s leadership shows what happens when Project 2025 moves from paper into reality. The FCC, once an independent agency tasked with ensuring fair access to communications, has become a frontline weapon in Trump’s broader campaign to silence critics and consolidate power.
Why Carr Is Anti-American and Anti-Democracy
Brendan Carr represents the worst kind of political operative: unelected, largely unknown to the public, yet deeply embedded in the machinery of government power. His record speaks for itself:
Repealed Net Neutrality: Stripped Americans of equal-access protections online in favor of corporate profits.
Authored Authoritarian Playbook: Wrote the FCC chapter of Project 2025, laying out a roadmap to weaponize federal power against media and tech critics.
Enabled Trump’s Power Grabs: Used his position to pressure companies like Disney into silencing voices critical of Trump.
Eroded Democratic Norms: Turned an independent regulator into a partisan hammer, undermining the principle of neutral governance.
Conclusion: Carr Belongs in the Trump Hall of Shame
Brendan Carr may not scream from the headlines like Giuliani, Flynn, or Bannon, but his quiet hand on the regulatory lever is just as dangerous. By dismantling consumer protections, authoring Trump’s authoritarian FCC blueprint, and now carrying it out as chair, Carr is actively undermining American democracy.
Trump rewards loyalty above all else, and Carr has shown himself willing to bend the nation’s communications policy to feed Trump’s ego and punish his enemies. That makes Brendan Carr not just a Trump enabler, but a direct threat to the freedoms the FCC was designed to protect.
Key Source Links
- CBS News — “Trump’s FCC pick, Brendan Carr, wrote Project 2025’s chapter on the agency. Here’s what he wants.”
Details what Carr proposed in the FCC chapter of Project 2025 (Section 230 reforms, reining in Big Tech, etc.).
(CBS News) - Huffman (House Democrats) — “FCC Commissioner Wrote A Project 2025 Chapter — Democrats Want Him Investigated Over It.”
House Democrats calling for an ethics investigation over Carr’s authorship in Project 2025.
(huffman.house.gov) - Law & Economics Center — “What Project 2025 Can Tell Us About Brendan Carr’s FCC Priorities.”
Analysis of how the Project 2025 FCC priorities line up with what Carr is doing (or planning to do).
(International Center for Law & Economics) - Free Press — “The Dangerous Impacts of FCC Chairman Carr’s Agenda.”
Critical perspective on Carr’s proposals in Project 2025, especially on broadband, funding programs, Title II, and consumer protections.
(Free Press) - ProgressChamber / Chamber of Progress — “Trump’s FCC Pick Crusaded Against Content Moderation in Project 2025.”
Details on Carr’s plan to attack Section 230 and content moderation.
(Chamber of Progress) - Reuters — “Disney’s ABC pulls ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ off air after remarks about Kirk.”
Reporting on ABC pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! after comments, with FCC Chair Carr’s involvement.
(Reuters) - Reuters — “U.S. House Democrats call on FCC chair to resign after pressuring Disney.”
Lawmakers accusing Carr of abusing his office over pressuring ABC to suspend the show.
(Reuters) - Washington Post Opinion — “Jimmy Kimmel’s ouster is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Commentary on what Carr’s actions mean for free speech, press freedom, and precedents.
(The Washington Post) - Business Insider — “FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez blasts ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel.”
Internal dissent at FCC; Gomez criticizes Carr’s threats to Disney/ABC.
(Business Insider) - Washington Post — “Brendan Carr has big ideas on the FCC — and critics across the spectrum.”
Overview of Carr pushing oversight of “liberal bias,” DEI investigations, and his actions since becoming Chair.
(The Washington Post) - Reuters — “FCC Chairman Carr defends Paramount-Skydance merger approval.”
Carr’s position defending a controversial media merger, thus showing alignment with industry priorities and political optics.
(Reuters) - The Guardian — “House Democrats call for FCC chair to quit over Jimmy Kimmel suspension.”
Broader context of Carr’s behavior being seen as overreach or abuse of power.
(The Guardian
