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The Verge
3 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
There are only two commissioners left at the FCC
After the departure of one Republican and one Democratic commissioner on Friday, the Federal Communications Commission is down to two members, falling below the quorum threshold for what's typically a five-person panel. Commissioners Nathan Simington and Geoffrey Starks stepped down at the end of the week. That leaves Republican Chair Brendan Carr and Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez as the two remaining voting members. President Donald Trump has nominated Republican Senate staffer Olivia Trusty to the commission, but the chamber has yet to vote on her confirmation, which left the agency deadlocked even before these departures. The FCC is in charge of everything from broadband regulations and subsidies funds, to telecommunications mergers enforcement, to spectrum auctions. Without a three-member quorum, some of that work, and the agenda of Trump-aligned Carr, is left in limbo. Starks and Simington both announced the date of their departures earlier this week, though Starks indicated in March that he planned to step down; neither offered specific reasons for their departure. Carr indicated he intends to keep up the pace, writing in a blog post that 'the show must go on.' The FCC isn't the only agency short its typical number of commissioners — earlier this year Trump ordered the firing (in violation of Supreme Court precedent) of the two Democratic commissioners on the Federal Trade Commission. There's a lot that Carr can at least try to do while awaiting a quorum, even without another Republican commissioner to vote on more partisan proposals. Carr has already used so-called delegated authority to let the FCC's various bureaus carry out the agency's work without a vote from the full commission. Verizon's $20 billion deal to buy Frontier was recently approved by the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau, for example, which Gomez criticized as a 'backroom' deal that should have been brought to a full commission vote. Gomez and Carr can also operate as a two-member board of the commissioners under Rule 0.212, allowing them to do most things they normally would besides issue final rules or actions, according to Public Knowledge senior vice president Harold Feld. That could hold up any final action to roll back a host of regulations through Carr's 'Delete, Delete, Delete' initiative, spurred by a Trump executive order, but allow for new notices of proposed rulemakings or other first steps — so long as they can both agree on them. Even if the commission can likely accomplish most of its day-to-day work, Feld warns that operating without a quorum under confusing legal precedents could be risky. 'It puts a cloud over everything,' he says. It could also cause problems if the Supreme Court issues an awaited ruling on the future of the Universal Service Fund, which helps subsidize communications services for rural and low-income households, and requires changes that would need to be approved by a commission vote. Though a Senate vote on Trusty's confirmation could be scheduled in the coming month or two and officially end the limbo, Feld worries about what could happen if it stretches into hurricane season. After past natural disasters, he says, the FCC has broken red tape to get money for telecommunications networks repairs out faster. 'That potentially might be a problem if the FCC doesn't have a quorum,' he says. 'How much are we handicapped in the event of a weather-related crisis? Will we just decide that the bureaus can act on delegated authority? … [Or] is the commission going to be paralyzed to act in the face of a crisis?'
CNN
5 days ago
- Business
- CNN
What do you do when you're the lone Democrat on Trump's FCC? You go on tour
Anna Gomez, soon to be the lone Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, has been sounding the alarm about President Donald Trump's 'weaponization' of her agency against the press. And now she's taking it on the road. Gomez has embarked on a 'First Amendment Tour' of planned speeches across multiple states, saying Trump has shown a 'pattern of censorship and control' threatening free speech rights. Under Trump-appointed Chairman Brendan Carr, the FCC has conducted what she calls 'sham investigations' against news outlets. Last week, Gomez gave a speech at California State University in Los Angeles — her first tour stop outside Washington, DC. She'll soon make appearances in Kentucky and Illinois, and the tour is expected to last through the end of the year. 'I want to speak out, make sure we get the message out about what is happening and how this is a threat to our democracy,' Gomez told CNN. The FCC's efforts to investigate news outlets — including NPR, PBS, ABC, CBS and NBC — 'is a threat to the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press,' she added, 'and I want to encourage others to join me, to speak out and to push back against this violation of the First Amendment.' Get Reliable Sources newsletter Sign up here to receive Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter in your inbox. Gomez suggested she could be fired for openly criticizing her agency. However, she said she's 'more worried about our democracy and the folks standing up to defend it.' (The FCC is an independent agency, and the president cannot fire a commissioner without just cause. If Trump removed anyone from the panel, it could trigger a legal fight.) 'I will continue to speak out, regardless of what happens, because I think it's important that we bring attention to these actions that are so contrary to our constitutional freedoms,' Gomez told CNN. After this week, Gomez, a 2023 Biden appointee, will be the only Democrat left on the five-seat commission. Her fellow Democrat, Geoffrey Starks, who was appointed by Trump and reappointed by Biden, will step down on Friday. Republican commissioner Nathan Simington, a Trump appointee, will also exit the agency at the end of this week. The departures will leave just two commissioners on the bench: Gomez and Carr, the latter of whom has openly signaled a willingness to pursue media outlets deemed unfavorable by the president. The FCC will be unable to vote on any matters until it fills a vacant seat and fulfills a required three-commissioner quorum. In the meantime, Gomez said she plans to be vocal about her chairman's actions. Since Trump returned to the White House, Carr has reopened probes into NPR and PBS over their sponsorship practices and into CBS over alleged 'news distortion.' He's reinstated complaints against ABC News for its handling of a 2024 presidential debate and opened new probes into NBCUniversal and Disney over their diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Those actions, Gomez said, have been justified by Carr using 'an undefined public interest standard,' which she translated as 'things we don't like to see.' These are 'sham investigations,' Gomez bluntly told CNN. 'They are intended to affect how these broadcasters and companies are doing their business, whether it's how they make their editorial decisions or how they change their fair hiring practices.' Gomez has also used the tour to delve into Trump's lawsuits against media companies — a tactic that has FCC connections, in the case of CBS News. The broadcaster's parent company, Paramount, is seeking the FCC's sign-off on its lucrative merger with Skydance Media. At the same time, Trump is suing CBS, accusing '60 Minutes' of deliberately mis-editing its October interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris to manipulate the election. Even though experts have deemed the lawsuit bogus, CBS is reportedly considering settling the lawsuit. Pressure to settle the case and clear the way for FCC approval has trickled down to the network. CBS News president Wendy McMahon, a '60 Minutes' ally, stepped down last month. 'It's become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward,' she wrote in her farewell memo. Weeks before that, longtime '60 Minutes' producer Bill Owens resigned because he felt he could no longer make 'independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes,' as he wrote in a memo to the show's staff. Days later, the newsmagazine's anchor Scott Pelley said that Paramount had started 'to supervise our content in new ways' amid the political pressure, and that Owens felt 'he had lost the independence that honest journalism requires.' 'That, to me, is completely against the public interest,' Gomez said of Owens and McMahon being pushed out, 'because what it says is that they are making news editorial decisions for reasons that have nothing to do with journalistic integrity, but everything to do with the corporate parent's desire to get their transaction done.' While Gomez is using her speeches to sound alarms, she said there are glimmers of hope. The audience at last week's LA show, she said, was thrilled to see press freedom groups pushing back against the administration. However, Gomez said, the overall takeaway from the LA event was just how pervasive the sense of fear for press freedom has become. 'There's a lot of fear about these actions being taken against broadcasters, in particular, and frustration,' Gomez said. 'We heard from a wide variety of people — reporters, broadcasters, professors, public media — and they all had the same message, which is that they are very nervous about the actions that this administration is taking.'
CNN
15-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
FCC commissioner rips a 'weaponized' agency punishing news outlets Trump dislikes
A Democratic commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission tore into the panel's recent actions under its new chairman, without naming him, saying the agency has been 'weaponized to chill speech and to punish the press.' 'We are witnessing a dangerous precedent: the transformation of an independent regulator into an instrument of political censorship,' Anna Gomez, a 2023 Biden appointee, said Thursday during a fiery speech at the 2025 Media Institute Communications Forum in Washington, DC. Gomez did not directly name Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed FCC chair who has used his authority to pressure media outlets President Donald Trump has deemed unfavorable. Carr has opened investigations into PBS and NPR over their sponsorship practices; reopened a probe of CBS for 'news distortion;' reinstated complaints against ABC for its handling of a presidential debate between Trump and then-Vice President Kamala Harris; and opened new probes into NBCUniversal and Disney, ABC's parent company, over their promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion policies. 'This FCC has made clear that it will go after any news outlet that dares to report the truth if that truth is unfavorable to this administration,' Gomez said. In contrast, she applauded past FCC chairs who demonstrated 'courage' by 'refusing to wield the agency's licensing authority as a weapon… even in the face of political pressure.' Gomez said she will 'refuse to stay quiet' as the federal government 'weaponizes its regulatory tools' to violate the First Amendment and attack the news media. After fellow commissioner Geoffrey Starks resigns this spring, Gomez will be the lone Democrat on the five-seat commission, alongside Carr and another Trump appointee. The remaining slot currently sits vacant. 'Unfortunately, the administration efforts to censor and control appear to be working, at least for now,' Gomez said. 'Some media outlets are finding it is easier to retreat in the face of government threats, veiled or otherwise, than to be responsive to their audiences.' Gomez pointed to changes at CBS News and its flagship news program '60 Minutes' as examples of what gets lost when political pressure comes to bear on reporting the news. CBS News is reportingly considering a settlement of a lawsuit brought by President Trump, which accuses the broadcaster of deliberately mis-editing a '60 Minutes' interview with Harris to manipulate the November election. While many experts have deemed the lawsuit to be bogus, CBS parent Paramount Global has begun discussing a settlement, especially as company chair Shari Redstone looks to complete a merger with Skydance Media — a deal that will require signoff from Carr's FCC. The pressure to settle the lawsuit and clear the way for a merger has trickled down to CBS News. In late April, longtime '60 Minutes' executive producer Bill Owens stepped down because he felt he could no longer make 'independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes,' according to a memo he wrote to the show's staff. Days later, the newsmagazine's host Scott Pelley said on-air that Paramount had begun 'to supervise our content in new ways' amid the Trump pressure, leading Owens to feel 'he had lost the independence that honest journalism requires.' 'Pardon my language, but that is a B.F.D.,' Gomez said on Thursday of the '60 Minutes' ordeal, using a shorthand for 'big f**ing deal.' She continued: 'Corporate parents should give journalists the independence they need. A free press requires free journalists.' Gomez closed by saying that if she's removed from her seat, 'it wasn't because I failed to do my job. It's because I insisted on doing it.'
CNN
15-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
FCC commissioner rips a 'weaponized' agency punishing news outlets Trump dislikes
A Democratic commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission tore into the panel's recent actions under its new chairman, without naming him, saying the agency has been 'weaponized to chill speech and to punish the press.' 'We are witnessing a dangerous precedent: the transformation of an independent regulator into an instrument of political censorship,' Anna Gomez, a 2023 Biden appointee, said Thursday during a fiery speech at the 2025 Media Institute Communications Forum in Washington, DC. Gomez did not directly name Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed FCC chair who has used his authority to pressure media outlets President Donald Trump has deemed unfavorable. Carr has opened investigations into PBS and NPR over their sponsorship practices; reopened a probe of CBS for 'news distortion;' reinstated complaints against ABC for its handling of a presidential debate between Trump and then-Vice President Kamala Harris; and opened new probes into NBCUniversal and Disney, ABC's parent company, over their promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion policies. 'This FCC has made clear that it will go after any news outlet that dares to report the truth if that truth is unfavorable to this administration,' Gomez said. In contrast, she applauded past FCC chairs who demonstrated 'courage' by 'refusing to wield the agency's licensing authority as a weapon… even in the face of political pressure.' Gomez said she will 'refuse to stay quiet' as the federal government 'weaponizes its regulatory tools' to violate the First Amendment and attack the news media. After fellow commissioner Geoffrey Starks resigns this spring, Gomez will be the lone Democrat on the five-seat commission, alongside Carr and another Trump appointee. The remaining slot currently sits vacant. 'Unfortunately, the administration efforts to censor and control appear to be working, at least for now,' Gomez said. 'Some media outlets are finding it is easier to retreat in the face of government threats, veiled or otherwise, than to be responsive to their audiences.' Gomez pointed to changes at CBS News and its flagship news program '60 Minutes' as examples of what gets lost when political pressure comes to bear on reporting the news. CBS News is reportingly considering a settlement of a lawsuit brought by President Trump, which accuses the broadcaster of deliberately mis-editing a '60 Minutes' interview with Harris to manipulate the November election. While many experts have deemed the lawsuit to be bogus, CBS parent Paramount Global has begun discussing a settlement, especially as company chair Shari Redstone looks to complete a merger with Skydance Media — a deal that will require signoff from Carr's FCC. The pressure to settle the lawsuit and clear the way for a merger has trickled down to CBS News. In late April, longtime '60 Minutes' executive producer Bill Owens stepped down because he felt he could no longer make 'independent decisions based on what was right for 60 Minutes,' according to a memo he wrote to the show's staff. Days later, the newsmagazine's host Scott Pelley said on-air that Paramount had begun 'to supervise our content in new ways' amid the Trump pressure, leading Owens to feel 'he had lost the independence that honest journalism requires.' 'Pardon my language, but that is a B.F.D.,' Gomez said on Thursday of the '60 Minutes' ordeal, using a shorthand for 'big f**ing deal.' She continued: 'Corporate parents should give journalists the independence they need. A free press requires free journalists.' Gomez closed by saying that if she's removed from her seat, 'it wasn't because I failed to do my job. It's because I insisted on doing it.'
Bloomberg
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
FCC's Anna Gomez Takes on Trump in Defense of Media
As the junior — and soon to be only — Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, Anna Gomez is one of the rare voices of dissent in the US government. She's putting her job in jeopardy by speaking out against the erosion of the line between the powerful independent agency and the Oval Office, which Gomez says is taking an 'alarming' approach to controlling the media and intimidating private businesses. But Gomez says it's a risk worth taking. She has mounted an opposition tour of sorts taking aim at the agenda of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, whom President Donald Trump elevated to the position in January. She has begun convening her own press conferences after the FCC's monthly meetings, where she has called his views on public broadcasters' coverage and funding sources 'dangerous and unprecedented,' and objected to Carr's moves to target diversity policies at media companies
