The Federal Communications Commission updated its website in real time Wednesday to reflect a comment Chairman Brendan Carr made to a panel of U.S. senators that the agency was “not an independent agency, formally speaking,” as lawmakers pressed him on ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel and alleged pressure from the Trump administration.
The agency’s website initially described the commission as “an independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress,” one that was “responsible for implementing and enforcing America’s communications law and regulations.”
But minutes after Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) pressed Carr on the agency’s independence — prompting the chairman to say it was not — the FCC’s website was updated to remove the word “independent.”
The FCC’s three commissioners testified before the Senate Commerce Committee about the agency’s role in regulating broadcast media companies. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the committee’s chairman, requested the hearing after comments from FCC Chair Brendan Carr appeared to suggest federal pressure on broadcasters to drop “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in September, following Kimmel’s remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty said the commissioners serve within the executive branch and are not protected by the “for-cause” guidelines that prevent the president from firing them, “which means that we aren’t independent.”
When Luján asked if her comments meant the website was lying, she said she couldn’t speak to its contents.
“I‘ve not seen that,” Trusty said.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the agency’s board, affirmed the agency’s independence and said, “We should be.”
Trump has repeatedly tried to exert pressure on broadcasters over content he disagreed with, suggesting that networks such as NBC and ABC should lose their broadcast licenses for their news coverage.
An FCC spokesperson said that due to “the change in Administration earlier this year, the FCC’s website and materials required updating.”
“That work continues to ensure that they reflect the positions of the agency’s new leadership,” they added. The spokesperson did not answer questions about why the change came only after Carr disavowed the agency’s stance of independence on Wednesday.
