The leadership for the Federal Communications Commission in 2025 is now clear: President-Elect Trump has stated he will nominate current FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, and current Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced she will follow customs and step down in January.
UCC Media Justice would like to take this moment to thank Chair Rosenworcel and the FCC staff who have worked so hard for the last four years. During Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s term, the FCC has accomplished many important objectives for the American people, including:
- Implementing the Emergency Broadband Benefit and Affordable Connectivity Programs in record time, ultimately building two programs that helped 23 million low-income households obtain affordable high-speed internet service;
- Adopting rules implementing Congress’ law prohibition digital discrimination by interpreting the law to target whether actions discriminatorily impact the public’s access to broadband and digital services;
- Maintaining media ownership limits to promote competition, localism and diversity;
- Carefully scrutinizing and imposing conditions or blocked mergers that would have harmed consumers, localism or journalism;
- Establishing Net Neutrality protections to ensure all content will be treated fairly on the Internet, and;
- Adopting rules to lower the costs of calling for incarcerated people and their loved ones, and implementing Congress’ bi-partisan Martha Wright Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act on-time and with substantial improvements to promote reasonable rates.
UCC Media Justice also offers its best wishes to incoming Chair Brendan Carr. As UCC Media Justice explained after the election, it will look to find common ground where possible and build on previous bi-partisan work, whether that is for just and reasonable communications for incarcerated people or affordable broadband for low-income people and on tribal land. As with all FCC leaders, we fully expect that, as Chairman, Mr. Carr will act to protect civil rights, freedom of speech, corporate accountability, competition and localism—adhering to the constitutional protections so critical in an agency that safeguards our nation’s communications infrastructure. UCC Media Justice will continue its work with the civil rights community to promote an equitable and just media infrastructure supporting democracy, public safety and connection.
At the same time we hope to find common ground, we also expect Mr. Carr to adhere to the rule of law and constitutional norms. We are deeply concerned Mr. Carr chose the day after his name was announced to attack diversity, equity and inclusion as an FCC priority. The FCC and our communications infrastructure are better when all people are welcomed and included, no matter their background. We are deeply concerned that Mr. Carr has made statements that appear to pre-judge potential FCC rule violations and did not publicly stand up to President-Elect Trump when he threatened regulatory retaliation against broadcasters whose news coverage he dislikes, in contrast to FCC Chair Ajit Pai in the first Trump Administration. UCC Media Justice shares Mr. Carr’s belief in broadcaster accountability, and we see strong pro-competitive and pro-localism structural rules as the most First Amendment friendly. If further scrutiny of broadcast licensees are in the cards, the Commission must treat all alleged violations with the same seriousness.
Public trust in governmental institutions is necessary for a free society. Public servants hold in their hands the power to create a more inclusive, stable, prosperous and democratic society for everyone, and the ability to undermine those things, as well. Whether parties agree or disagree on a particular policy proposal, UCC Media Justice will continue campaigning for transparent, accountable actions by our federal decisionmakers and corporations.
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