Brendan Thomas Carr (born January 5, 1979) is an American attorney who has served as the chairman of the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC) since January 2025. Carr has been an FCC commissioner since 2017. He previously served as the agency's

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

and as an aide to FCC commissioner

Ajit Pai Ajit Varadaraj Pai (; born January 10, 1973) is an American lawyer who served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2017 to 2021. He became a partner at the private-equity firm Searchlight Capital in April 2021. He bec ...

. In private practice, Carr formerly worked as a telecommunications attorney at

Wiley Rein Wiley Rein LLP, sometimes shortened to Wiley, is an American law firm based in Washington, D.C. With 260 lawyers, the firm represents clients in complex regulatory, litigation, and transactional matters. Many of the firm's lawyers and public po ...

. Carr supports changes to

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act In the United States, Section 230 is a section of the Communications Act of 1934 that was enacted as part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which is Title V of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and generally provides immunity for ...

and opposes

net neutrality Net neutrality, sometimes referred to as network neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering User (computing), users and online content providers consistent tra ...

protections. Carr is noted for his support for banning

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

on national security grounds. He is an opponent of content moderation on digital platforms, saying he would seek to "dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights", and wants the FCC to punish news broadcasters he sees as unfair to

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

or Republicans in general. He authored a chapter in ''Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise'', the blueprint document of Heritage Foundation's

Project 2025 Project 2025 (also known as the 2025 Presidential Transition Project) is a political initiative to reshape the federal government of the United States and consolidate executive power in favor of right-wing policies. The plan was published in ...

, which outlines proposed policies for a future Donald Trump administration. In office, Carr has been noted for being unusually vocal about public policy issues for a regulatory appointee, accusing

House Intelligence Committee The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Rick Crawford. It is the primary comm ...

chair

Adam Schiff Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from California, a seat he has held since 2024. A m ...

of overseeing a "secret and partisan surveillance machine". In May 2023 President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

renominated Carr for a new term expiring June 30, 2028 and he was confirmed by the Senate on September 30, 2023. In November 2024, Trump selected Carr to lead the FCC, succeeding Jessica Rosenworcel.

Early life and education

Carr was born on January 5, 1979, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, U.S. He graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in 2001 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in government. He later attended

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

Columbus School of Law The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. More than 370 Juris Doctor students attend the ...

, where he was an editor of the '' Catholic University Law Review''. He graduated in 2005 with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

, ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

''.

Legal career

From 2005 to 2007, Carr was an associate in private practice at the law firm

, where he worked on appellate and

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

legal matters. He was a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for Judge Dennis Shedd of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 2007 to 2008, then rejoined Wiley Rein.

Federal Communications Commission

Carr joined the

(FCC) as a legal advisor to commissioner

. In this capacity, Carr advised on wireless, public safety, and international issues. In January 2017, Carr became general counsel of the FCC.

First Trump administration

President

nominated Carr to become a commissioner of the FCC in June 2017, and Carr was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in August 2017. Carr was renominated to a full five-year term by President Trump in 2018 and confirmed by Congress on a voice vote on January 2, 2019. His initial term ran from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2023. As a member of the FCC, Carr has been noted for being unusually vocal about public policy issues for a regulatory appointee. While in office, Carr accused

chair

of overseeing a "secret and partisan surveillance machine". Carr argued in 2020 that the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

was "beclowned" in its response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, Carr publicly accused social media platforms of being biased against the Trump reelection campaign. During an on-air interview with ''

Lou Dobbs Tonight ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'' is an American political and financial talk program that was hosted by Lou Dobbs. The program initially aired on CNN from its launch under the title ''Moneyline'', as its main financial news program. The program later shift ...

'' on

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

, Carr stated that, "Since the 2016 election, the far left has hopped from hoax to hoax to hoax to explain how it lost to President Trump at the ballot box." In 2020, observers including Doug Brake of the

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a U.S. nonprofit public policy think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on public policy surrounding industry and technology. , the University of Pennsylvania ranks ITIF as the ...

(ITIF) and Chris Lewis of

Public Knowledge Public Knowledge is an American non-profit organization, non-profit advocacy, public interest group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2001 by David Bollier, Gigi Sohn, and Laurie Racine, Public Knowledge is primarily involved in the fields of ...

speculated that Carr would be a leading candidate to serve as FCC chairman under a second term for Trump.

Biden administration

In 2021, Carr criticized the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...

's proposal for $100 billion in new broadband deployment as part of the original American Jobs Plan proposal. In May 2022, Carr called for the

Disinformation Governance Board The Disinformation Governance Board (DGB) was an advisory board of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), from April 27, 2022, to August 24, 2022. The board's stated function was to protect national security by disseminating g ...

, an advisory board within the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

, to be shut down, slamming the body as "

Orwellian ''Orwellian'' is an adjective which is used to describe a situation, an idea, or a societal condition that 20th-century author George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. It denotes an attitude and ...

". In November 2022, Carr traveled to

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, Taiwan, to attend meetings on cybersecurity and telecommunications matters. In doing so, he became the first member of the agency to visit the island in an official capacity. In 2023, Carr criticized the

National Telecommunications and Information Administration The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is a bureau of the United States Department of Commerce that serves as the president's principal adviser on telecommunications policies pertaining to the United States' ec ...

's (NTIA) broadband funding program, which he argued gave undue preference to

fiber Fiber (spelled fibre in British English; from ) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often inco ...

. In May 2023 President

renominated Carr for a new term expiring June 30, 2028, and the Senate confirmed his nomination by voice vote on September 30, 2023. In November 2024, Carr accused

NewsGuard NewsGuard is a rating system for news and information websites. It is accessible via browser extensions and mobile apps. It rates publishers based on whether they have transparent finances or publish many errors, among other criteria. NewsGuard ...

, a company that rates the credibility of news outlets, of facilitating what he called a "censorship cartel". He sent letters to major technology companies (including Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft) questioning their relationships with NewsGuard, and suggesting that such partnerships might jeopardize their

Section 230 In the United States, Section 230 is a section of the Communications Act of 1934 that was enacted as part of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which is Title V of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and generally provides immunity for on ...

liability protections.

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

experts criticized Carr's actions, arguing that they constituted "jawboning" (using government authority to pressure private companies against protected speech).

Second Trump administration

On January 22, 2025, Trump-appointed FCC chair Carr revived three of four investigations into claims of bias brought against

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

—but not

—which Democratic chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel had dismissed the previous week. On January 30, Carr launched investigations into

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. On February 11, he opened an investigation into

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

and

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and Trade name, doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Show business, entertainment conglomerate (comp ...

, expressing concern that they "may be promoting invidious forms of DEI".

Political positions

Carr is an opponent of

protections and has endorsed efforts to reform

. Carr vehemently opposed efforts to block

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

's acquisition of

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. In 2023, Carr authored the chapter on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the Heritage Foundation's

book, ''Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise. In the chapter, Carr proposes "reining in Big Tech" as one of the main goals for the FCC.

TikTok

A critic of

, Carr has accused the platform of harming users and undermining national security, and has referred to TikTok as "digital

fentanyl Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic (pain medication). It is 30 to 50 times more Potency (pharmacology), potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Its primary Medici ...

". Carr has said that parents whose children use the application should be concerned with their privacy. The FCC has no authority to regulate online content and platforms like TikTok, and has limited powers to restrict or ban speech. In a November 2022 interview with ''Axios'', Carr reiterated that he believes the

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS, ) is an inter-agency committee in the United States government that reviews the national security implications of foreign investments in the U.S. economy. CFIUS, led by the U.S ...

(CFIUS) should ban TikTok.

Apple and antitrust issues

In June 2022, Carr wrote an open letter urging

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

and

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

to remove TikTok from their respective app stores, arguing the platform poses a security risk. Carr privately wrote a letter to

Jonathan Kanter Jonathan Seth Kanter (born July 30, 1973) is an American lawyer who served as United States Assistant Attorney General, Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Antitrust Division of the United St ...

Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the adv ...

for the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, where he urged the DOJ to scrutinize Apple and Google's handling of TikTok on their app stores. In 2024, Carr advocated for an investigation into Apple over the company's shutdown of Beeper Mini, an application that brought

iMessage iMessage is an instant messaging service developed by Apple Inc. and launched in 2011. iMessage functions exclusively on Apple platforms – including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS – as part of Apple ecosystem, Apple's approach t ...

compatibility to Android phones.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Brendan 1979 births 21st-century American lawyers Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences alumni Columbus School of Law alumni Living people Members of the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission personnel First Trump administration personnel Biden administration personnel Second Trump administration personnel