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The chairman of the F.C.C., who is in the spotlight for his comments that may have led to the suspension of late night TV show host Jimmy Kimmel, has long criticized the media for perceived bias.
Sept. 18, 2025, 12:11 a.m. ET
Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, which is the nation’s top watchdog over the broadcast industry, was at the center of a media storm on Wednesday.
In an interview on a right-wing podcast, Mr. Carr criticized comments that late night host Jimmy Kimmel had made earlier this week about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Shortly afterward, ABC decided to pull the Jimmy Kimmel Live show off the air “indefinitely.” Many Democrats immediately criticized the F.C.C. pressure, while President Trump said the suspension of Mr. Kimmel’s show was “Great News for America.”
Here’s what to know about Mr. Carr.
What is Carr’s background?
Mr. Carr, 46, a native of Washington, D.C., began his career as a lawyer representing corporate clients, including in the wireless industry, on regulatory matters. In 2012, he joined the F.C.C. as a staff attorney.
Since then, he has risen the ranks at the agency and within the Republican Party. He worked with Mr. Trump’s first-term pick for the regulator’s chair, Ajit Pai. In mid-2017, Mr. Carr was named to a Republican seat on the commission.
As a commissioner, he drew attention from Republicans for his vocal criticism of news media outlets for what he called liberal biases.
Mr. Carr wrote the F.C.C. chapter for Project 2025, a playbook written for Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign and election. In it, Mr. Carr said the agency should focus on reining in big tech firms, which he accused of censorship.
“The F.C.C. should promote freedom of speech,” he wrote in the first words of the chapter.
Why did President Trump pick Carr to chair the F.C.C.?
In many ways, Mr. Carr was the obvious choice. He had more experience in communications regulation than nearly any other candidate and was well-known in the policy world.
In frequent appearances on Fox News and in prolific social media postings, Mr. Carr echoed Mr. Trump’s growing anger toward broadcasters during the election. Mr. Carr was also well-connected within conservative Washington organizations like the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society.
Before the election, Mr. Carr hitched his star to Elon Musk, then a confidant of Mr. Trump. On X, the social media platform owned by Mr. Musk, Mr. Carr posted photos of himself at SpaceX launches and other business ventures run by the billionaire.
“Commissioner Carr is a warrior for Free Speech, and has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans’ Freedoms, and held back our Economy,” Mr. Trump said when he named Mr. Carr to head the F.C.C. in January.
What has Carr done since taking over the F.C.C.?
Mr. Carr quickly launched investigations into diversity, equity and inclusion programs — pushing to dismantle them — then slashed regulations on broadband companies.
In January, he reinstated complaints against CBS, NBC and ABC that accused the broadcasters of political biases. The F.C.C. under former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. had dismissed the complaints, saying they violated the First Amendment.
In March, Mr. Carr started investigating ABC for its diversity policies, something he said he would scrutinize for discriminatory practices. In April, he accused Comcast, which owns NBC, of “news distortion.”
In a complaint filed to the F.C.C. in October 2024 against CBS’s “60 Minutes,” a conservative group accused the network of editing an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris to make her look good. Mr. Carr went on to link the CBS complaint to its parent company Paramount’s $8 billion deal to merge with Skydance, which was under review at the F.C.C. for approval.
In early July, Paramount settled Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against CBS for $16 million. Weeks later, Mr. Carr approved the Paramount-Skydance merger.
How can Carr punish the media?
Mr. Carr’s power lies with the licenses that the F.C.C. doles out to radio and TV stations to broadcast over public airwaves.
While the F.C.C. cannot directly ban a news network for its content, Mr. Carr has argued that he can withhold licenses that aren’t being used in the public’s interest.
The public interest standard can be broadly defined and many telecom experts say that more than any other F.C.C. chair, Mr. Carr has used his position to crack down on speech he finds offensive.
What did Carr say about Jimmy Kimmel?
During his opening monologue on Monday, Mr. Kimmel addressed the killing of Mr. Kirk by saying: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
In the podcast interview on Wednesday, Mr. Carr described Mr. Kimmel’s remarks as part of a “concerted effort to lie to the American people” about the beliefs of Mr. Kirk’s killer. He said the F.C.C. was “going to have remedies that we can look at.”
“Frankly, when you see stuff like this — I mean, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Mr. Carr told the podcast’s host, Benny Johnson. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the F.C.C. ahead.”
The F.C.C. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Cecilia Kang reports on technology and regulatory policy for The Times from Washington. She has written about technology for over two decades.
