Title: FCC Commissioner’s Role in ‘Project 2025′ Draws Fire from Democrats
As Democrats and consumer advocates denounce the role of a Republican Federal Communications Commission (FCC) official in spearheading Project 2025, we find ourselves in the midst of another polarizing political debate.
Project 2025, backed by allies of the former President Donald Trump, has been labeled as an aggressive right-wing plan to overhaul the federal government which includes significant changes like dismantling the Education Department, drastically reducing the federal workforce, and bolstering presidential control over the civil service.
Spearheading the telecommunication regulators’ chapter of this plan is Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, a Trump-appointed official since 2017. Carr’s involvement in crafting the plan is drawing significant backlash from liberals, Democrats, and President Biden. Carr’s section of the report proposes a marked shift in agency focus towards curbing the influence of tech giants such as Facebook and Google.
Perhaps the most controversial part of Carr’s section includes rallying the FCC into the Republican tussle against Section 230. Section 230, the legal law that provides protection to digital platforms from lawsuits over user-generated content is seen as frustrating the conservative viewpoint by many Republicans. In supporting this chapter, Carr has reiterated claims often made by conservatives about social media companies allegedly ‘censoring’ their viewpoints.
Carr’s Project 2025 proposal further opposes the digital shield provided by Section 230 – a stance taken by Trump during his presidency. The Commissioner has also proposed leveraging the FCC’s powers to enforce “transparency rules on Big Tech,” and even hinted at the agency’s potential role in banning TikTok from the United States.
Such propositions mark a noticeable departure from FCC’s conventional focus on the telecom sector, and arguably favor megacorporations like Verizon and AT&T. “It’s a reckless compilation of ideological, pro-corporate proposals,” said Robert Weissman, president of the advocacy group Public Citizen.
In addition to the shift in the FCC’s focus, Carr’s involvement in Project 2025 seeks to pigeonhole independent regulatory agencies like the FCC to align more with Trump’s political agenda.
The proposal, if successful, will give Trump (if reelected) more power to remove regulators who don’t support his agenda, as per Berin Szóka, president of the libertarian think tank TechFreedom.
As per Szóka, Brendan Carr’s support for Project 2025 could be a campaign strategy to become the future FCC chief. However, Carr did not respond to requests for comments.
Project 2025 discussions saw the light of day during an FCC budget hearing this week, with House Democrats openly expressing their dismay over the proposal. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Tex) expressed that she was “surprised and very disappointed” to see Carr contributing to a plan that she categorized as “a blueprint for dismantling our government.”
Despite controversy, Trump has distanced himself from the proposal, asserting that he knows “nothing about Project 2025.” It remains to be seen whether this controversial Project will re-map Trump’s FCC, if he secures an election win.
