FCC To Get First Full Senate Oversight Hearing In A Half Decade

Lawmakers wanting to get FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to Capitol Hill after September’s Jimmy Kimmel controversy will get their wish before the end of the year. All three sitting FCC Commissioners will appear for a Senate Commerce Committee oversight review.

Yet even with the media and legislative clamor around recent “public interest” disputes, it remains a routine Congressional review of the FCC’s operations.

First announced on social media, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a full FCC oversight hearing on Wednesday, December 17. With Commissioners Anna Gómez and Olivia Trusty alongside Carr, this will be the first full Senate Commerce Committee FCC oversight session since June 24, 2020.

The hearing follows renewed public attention on the FCC’s “public interest” standard, which resurfaced after Carr criticized remarks made by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel concerning the alleged assassin of Salem Media syndicated host Charlie Kirk. Carr’s response, made during a podcast appearance, sparked debate over the Commission’s authority to address content concerns.

While the Senate Committee has not yet released a formal agenda, speculation centers on potential inquiries into the FCC’s handling of Paramount Global’s merger with Skydance Media and related “public interest” complaints involving major broadcast networks.

One person who will likely be particularly interested in speaking to Chairman Carr? Ranking Commerce Committee Member Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WAS).

At an October meeting of the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on digital media consolidation and free speech, she criticized the FCC Chairman’s absence from recent congressional testimony over media deregulation and questioned his role in what she called an accelerating wave of media mergers. She argued that Carr’s deregulatory approach to broadcast ownership and merger approvals threatens competition, localism, and media diversity.

The hearing may not fall neatly along party lines, either. Commerce Committee Chairman Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) previously rebuked Carr’s handling of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! controversy on his iHeartMedia-distributed Verdict podcast, calling the remarks “dangerous as hell.” Sen. Cruz warned, “If the government gets in the business of saying what can’t and can’t say what you, the media have said, we’re going to ban you from the airwaves,” Cruz warned. “If you don’t say what we like, that will end up bad for conservatives.”