The broadcast regulator's chairman has used license reviews, merger approvals and equal-time rules to press television networks over news coverage and diversity programs, most visibly in a continuing dispute with ABC.
Biography
Brendan Carr was born in Washington, D.C., on January 5, 1979, and graduated from Georgetown University in 2001 and Catholic University's law school in 2005. 1 He worked at the law firm Wiley Rein, where his clients included Verizon and AT&T, and clerked for a federal appeals judge. 1 He joined the Federal Communications Commission as a staff lawyer in 2012, became an adviser to Commissioner Ajit Pai in 2014 and the agency's general counsel in January 2017. 1
President Trump nominated him as a commissioner in June 2017, and the Senate confirmed him by voice vote that August and again for a full term in January 2019. 1 Trump named him chairman after the 2024 election, and he took the chair on January 20, 2025. 1 He told the Senate Commerce Committee in December 2025 that the commission is not an independent agency. 1
As chairman he opened inquiries into diversity programs at Comcast and Disney, into NPR and PBS sponsorship messages and into several network news decisions, and he made the end of diversity programs a condition for approving mergers such as Verizon's purchase of Frontier and Skydance's purchase of Paramount. 1 In September 2025 he urged Disney to act against late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, and ABC pulled the show for about a week. 21
In 2026 he applied the equal-time rule to talk shows, threatened licenses over coverage of the Iran war and, in April, ordered an early renewal review of eight ABC-owned stations. 14 A press-freedom group said the commission had not called an early renewal in more than five decades. 3 In July he said ABC's choice not to carry a presidential address would be weighed in that review, which had not been decided in the reports reviewed. 43
In the job
The acts and events that have defined the post so far, oldest first.
Ordered an investigation of NPR and PBS sponsorship announcements and, in February, diversity-program investigations of Comcast. 1
The commission approved Skydance's purchase of Paramount after the company pledged to drop diversity programs and install a news ombudsman. 1
After he warned Disney over Jimmy Kimmel's remarks about the killing of Charlie Kirk, ABC suspended the program; it returned the following week. 21
Issued a notice applying the equal-time rule for political candidates to daytime and late-night talk shows; the commission later opened an inquiry into ABC's The View. 13
Said stations that air distorted news about the Iran war could lose licenses; voted to approve Nexstar's purchase of Tegna. 1
The commission ordered early license renewal reviews for eight Disney-owned ABC stations, citing its investigation of the company's employment and diversity practices; Disney filed under protest. 43
Said ABC's decision not to carry the president's July 16 address would be a factor in the license review; moved to repeal the 39 percent national cap on television station ownership. 431
The commission dropped the gigabit benchmark it used to measure broadband progress. 1
Disputes, and their side
What critics, courts or investigators have said, and the answer given. An allegation is not a finding.
Democratic leaders including Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer called on him to resign over his warning to ABC about Jimmy Kimmel; Republican Sen. Rand Paul said he had no business weighing in. 12
Their side: President Trump defended him as a patriot who had not crossed a line; Carr disputed that station groups pulled the show because of his remarks. 21
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press told the commission that the ABC license review is retaliation for the network's coverage and would violate the First Amendment. 3
Their side: The commission says the review stems from its investigation of ABC's employment practices. 34
Anna Gomez, the commission's only Democrat, said broadcasters have editorial discretion and called the pressure over the presidential address censorship in practice. 4
Their side: Carr said he believes broadcasters should carry a president's address from the White House. 4
The Freedom of the Press Foundation filed an ethics complaint against him over the Paramount merger review, according to Wikipedia's summary. 1
Their side: No public response found.
Career
Attorney at Wiley Rein, with a 2008-2009 clerkship for Judge Dennis Shedd of the Fourth Circuit
Attorney in the FCC Office of General Counsel
Legal adviser to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai
FCC General Counsel
FCC Commissioner
Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
In their own words
Quotes from our stories, each matched word for word against its source before it ran.
“It's full steam ahead, and we're going to continue to execute it inside the building.”
At a Senate hearing on Tuesday, a Democratic senator told Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr that once Democrats take control in January, he can expect to testify every month. Another Democrat has set a Nov. 30 deadline for FCC records he has asked for since 2025. For Americans who get their news from local TV, the coming fight is about whether a federal regulator can lean on broadcasters the president dislikes.
The press freedom group says it has never before called for removing a U.S. official. It accuses Carr of using the Federal Communications Commission against news outlets President Trump has targeted.
Five days before the midterms, FCC Chair Brendan Carr said his warning to broadcasters covers only fabricated polls, not honest coverage. The agency's lone Democrat says the threat itself is meant to scare stations into self-censoring.
Wedgewood Polling says it fabricated most of its surveys as an "experimental project." Its numbers had reached major news outlets and poll averages, and one Michigan Democrat says they hurt her Senate campaign.
