Trump appoints Musk associate Brendan Carr as FCC chair
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an agency charged with regulating US media and communications, is about to get a new boss: current commissioner Brendan Carr.
Described by President-elect Trump as "a warrior for Free Speech," Carr was nominated to the FCC by Trump in 2017. On November 17, Trump said in a statement: "I will now be designating him as permanent Chairman."
"He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America's Job Creators and Innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America," Trump's statement continued.
After thanking Trump for the appointment, Carr stated on Elon Musk's social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), that the FCC would be ending its promotion of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), then posted a GIF of Javier Milei's infamous "Afuera" video, in which the Argentinian president removes the names of government agencies from a whiteboard.
As well he might. The FCC opted in January not to spend nearly a billion dollars over ten years on Musk's Starlink satellite constellation to provide broadband to rural areas, which enraged the billionaire. FCC Commissioner Carr chimed in at the time, criticizing the decision and others that he claimed "gave federal agencies the green light to go after him [Musk]."
