House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is warning FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that he will be investigated “in short order” following his threat to pull broadcasters’ licenses, adding to a list of expected Democratic oversight should the party regain control of Congress.
Jeffries posted on his X campaign account, “Brendan Carr is a corrupt political hack and fake chair of the FCC. This guy (and the entities he promotes) will find himself on the wrong side of a congressional investigation in short order.”
Jeffries comments came amid the furor over Carr’s warning to broadcasters over their license renewals, after President Donald Trump blasted the media for their coverage of the Iran war. Because Democrats are in the minority, their investigative powers are limited. But that could change if the party manages to win back the House.
An FCC spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
Carr wrote on X on Saturday, “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions – also known as the fake news – have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
He linked to Trump’s Truth Social post, in which the president singled out headlines reporting on an Iranian strike on five Air Force refueling planes in Saudi Arabia. Trump called it an “intentionally misleading headline” and wrote that the aircraft was of “no further use.” “Four of the five had virtually no damage,” he wrote. “The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (in particular), and other Lowlife ‘Papers’ and Media actually want us to lose the War.”
The FCC has no oversight over news publications, but Trump has often railed against coverage by the broadcast networks. The agency licenses not national outlets but individual stations.
The sole Democrat on the FCC, Anna Gomez, issued a lengthier statement on Monday that noted that the FCC’s authority to dictate news content is limited by the First Amendment.
She said in a statement, “The concern over the chilling effect of these actions, however, is very real. Over the past year, this FCC has attacked the media as part of a years-long campaign by this Administration and its allies to discredit factual, independent coverage while blaming the press for growing public distrust. Meanwhile, it is the FCC’s own credibility and public trust that are rapidly eroding.”
She noted that “out of the many politically motivated FCC investigations targeting perceived government critics, not a single one has resulted in an enforcement action.”
“This follows a well-established pattern of threatened investigations, broadcast license revocations, and regulatory harassment aimed at pressuring broadcasters and their corporate parents to comply or capitulate in advance,” she said. “We cannot give this FCC more power than it has.”
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