CPJ calls on FCC commission to recommit to independence

Washington, D.C., December 22, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to recommit to independence after Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency is “not an independent agency, formally speaking” during a Senate oversight hearing on December 17. The word “independent” was also removed from the FCC’s official mission statement website during the hearing.

“FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s statement about the agency being ‘not formally’ independent carries a glaring implication for media freedom while bolstering CPJ’s research findings that the agency has punitively targeted media organizations at the whims of the Trump administration’s political agenda,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “This should concern all Americans who value their First Amendment rights and a country free of state-controlled media.”

In Carr’s tenure as FCC chairman, CPJ has documented politicized agency decisions, including investigations into major broadcasters and public broadcasters; threats to revoke local station licenses over coverage; and threats to block mergers of telecommunication companies based on content. A bipartisan group of former FCC chairs and senior staff also filed a formal petition in November that urges the Commission to rescind its news distortion policy, which prohibits the deliberate slanting or falsification of news reports, because of risks to press freedom.

Many members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation raised concerns on these issues in the hearing, particularly regarding Carr’s comments about comedian Jimmy Kimmel shortly before Kimmel’s late-night talk show was briefly removed from the air. Democrat and Republican senators, as well as FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, have stressed the importance of independent local news for having a functioning democracy

CPJ has raised concerns about jawboning tactics used by the FCC under Carr, including reports of threats to withhold mergers or open investigations into outlets if news outlets did not tow the administration’s line editorially. CPJ and partner organizations have also launched advocacy initiatives urging Carr to refrain from politicizing the FCC. 

The FCC did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.