Carr, one of two Republican members at the FCC, was named incoming chairman Sunday in an announcement from the president-elect. Carr was first appointed by Trump in 2017, during his first term in the White House, and has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration.
Much like dodging a bullet, Carr’s announcement was praised at the Mississippi-based American Family Association. That is because the national ministry includes a radio network, American Family Radio, with 165 stations located in 30 states. So what happens at the FCC doesn't go unnoticed at a radio network with a lineup of right-leaning talk shows.
“Carr has been a very vocal proponent of free speech and of deregulation at the FCC. So this is a very, very good move,” Walker Wildmon, AFA vice president, tells AFN.
Related to its concern over the FCC’s regulatory power, AFA is currently suing the federal agency in federal court over its demand for employee information from licensed broadcasters.
“We're in active litigation with the FCC over their DEI reporting requirements,” Wildmon advises, “wanting us to report on all of our employees and their sexual orientations.”
The lawsuit, filed in May, came after the FCC commissioners voted 3-2 to bring back the data collection via a required form, Form 395-B. That requirement had been defunct for 20 years before the vote.
Carr and Nathan Simington, the other Republican member, argued the data collection is intrusive and voted against bringing back Form 395-B.
Carr and Simington recently made news headlines when both voted against the FCC allowing the sale of a 200-station radio network to George Soros, the notorious billionaire. The purchase was approved only after the three Democrats at the FCC ignored its own rules about foreign ownership and dropped a mandatory national security review.
Carr called the vote “unprecedented” because it was ignoring the FCC’s written rules that are part of federal law.
Editor's Note: The American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
