Brendan Carr (lawyer) explained

Brendan Carr
Office:Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
Presumptive nominee
President:Donald Trump
Term Start:TBD
Succeeding:Jessica Rosenworcel
Office1:Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission
President1:Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Term Start1:August 11, 2017
Predecessor1:Tom Wheeler
Office2:General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission
Term Start2:April 2017
Term End2:August 2017
Acting: January 2017 – April 2017
President2:Donald Trump
Predecessor2:Howard J. Symons[1] [2]
Successor2:Jennifer B. Tatel (acting)[3] [4]
Birth Name:Brendan Thomas Carr[5]
Birth Place:Washington, D.C., U.S.[6]
Birth Date:5 January 1979
Party:Republican
Spouse:Machalagh Carr
Education:Georgetown University (BA)
Catholic University of America (JD)

Brendan Thomas Carr (born January 5, 1979) is an American lawyer who has served as a member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) since 2017.[7] Appointed to the position by Donald Trump, Carr previously served as the agency's general counsel and as an aide to FCC commissioner Ajit Pai. In private practice, Carr formerly worked as a telecommunications attorney at Wiley Rein.[8]

Carr supports changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and opposes net neutrality protections.[9] [10] Carr is noted for his support for banning TikTok on national security grounds.[11] [12] He is an opponent of content moderation on digital platforms, saying he would seek to "dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights."[13] [14] He authored a chapter in Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, the blueprint document of Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, 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 chair Adam Schiff of overseeing a “secret and partisan surveillance machine”.[15]

In May 2023 President Joe Biden renominated Carr for a new term expiring June 30, 2028 and he was confirmed by the Senate on September 30, 2023.[16] In November 2024, Trump selected Carr to lead the FCC, succeeding Jessica Rosenworcel.[17]

Early life and education

Carr was born on January 5, 1979, in Washington, DC. He graduated from Georgetown University in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in government. He later attended Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law, where he was an editor of the Catholic University Law Review. He graduated in 2005 with a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude.

Legal career

From 2005 to 2007, Carr was an associate in private practice at the law firm Wiley Rein, where he worked on appellate and telecommunications legal matters. He was a law clerk for Judge Dennis Shedd of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 2007 to 2008,[18] then rejoined Wiley Rein.

Federal Communications Commission

Carr joined the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a legal advisor to commissioner Ajit Pai. In this capacity, Carr advised on wireless, public safety, and international issues. In January 2017, Carr became general counsel of the FCC.[19]

Trump administration

President Donald Trump nominated Carr to become a commissioner of the FCC in June 2017, and Carr was confirmed by the United States Senate in August 2017.[20] 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.[21]

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 House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff of overseeing a "secret and partisan surveillance machine". Carr argued in 2020 that the World Health Organization was “beclowned” in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 on Fox News, 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."[22]

In 2020, observers including Doug Brake of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and Chris Lewis of Public Knowledge speculated that Carr would be a leading candidate to serve as FCC chairman under a second term for Trump.[23]

Biden administration

In 2021, Carr criticized the Biden administration's proposal for $100 billion in new broadband deployment as part of the original American Jobs Plan proposal.[24] In May 2022, Carr called for the Disinformation Governance Board, an advisory board within the Department of Homeland Security, to be shut down, slamming the body as "Orwellian".[25]

In November 2022, Carr travelled to Taipei, 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.[26] In 2023, Carr criticized the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) broadband funding program, which he argued gave undue preference to fiber.[27]

In May 2023 President Joe Biden renominated Carr for a new term expiring June 30, 2028 and he was confirmed by the Senate on September 30, 2023.[28]

Political positions

Carr is an opponent of net neutrality protections and has endorsed efforts to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.[29]

Carr vehemently opposed efforts to block Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter.[30]

In 2023, Carr authored the chapter on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 book, Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise.[31] [32] In the chapter, Carr proposes "reining in Big Tech" as one of the main goals for the FCC.[33]

TikTok

A critic of TikTok, Carr has accused the platform of harming users and undermining national security, and has referred to TikTok as "digital fentanyl".[34] Carr has said that parents whose children use the application should be concerned with their privacy.[35] The FCC has no authority to regulate online content and platforms like TikTok, and has limited powers to restrict or ban speech.[36] In a November 2022 interview with Axios, Carr reiterated that he believes the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) should ban TikTok.[37]

Apple and antitrust issues

In June 2022, Carr wrote an open letter urging Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their respective app stores, arguing the platform poses a security risk.[38] Carr privately wrote a letter to Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General 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.[39] In 2024, Carr advocated for an investigation into Apple over the company's shutdown of Beeper Mini, an application that brought iMessage compatibility to Android phones.[40]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2016-07-19 . FCC Chairman Announces General Counsel Transition . United States Federal Communications Commission . www.fcc.gov . 2022-11-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161106151326/https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-chairman-announces-general-counsel-transition . 2016-11-06 . Washington, D.C. . live . en.
  2. Web site: FCC Chairman Announces General Counsel Transition – Symons to Be Named FCC General Counsel . docs.fcc.gov . Federal Communications Commission . 2024-08-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161121164607/https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-340388A1.pdf . 2016-11-21 . Washington, D.C. . 2016-07-19 . live.
  3. Web site: Chairman Pai Announces Tatel To Serve As Acting General Counsel . . 2024-08-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170907115347/https://www.fcc.gov/document/chairman-pai-names-jennifer-tatel-acting-general-counsel . 2017-09-07 . Washington, DC . 2017-08-14 . live.
  4. Web site: LinkedIn Profile.
  5. Web site: Brendan Thomas Carr | The Federalist Society. November 6, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191106205126/https://fedsoc.org/contributors/brendan-carr. 2019-11-06.
  6. Web site: .Hrg. 115-478 — Nomination to the Federal Communications Commission (Carr Testimony) . 38-85, 121-133 . /www.congress.gov . . 2024-08-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191219021848/https://www.congress.gov/115/chrg/CHRG-115shrg35161/CHRG-115shrg35161.pdf . 2019-12-19 . Washington, D.C. . 2017-07-19 . live.
  7. News: Gold . Ashley . Hendel . John . FCC back to full five members as net neutrality vote looms . 2024-08-26 . POLITICO . Axel Springer SE . 2017-08-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230928092554/http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/03/fcc-nominees-confirmed-jessica-rosenworcel-brendan-carr-241298 . 2023-09-28.
  8. News: Puzzanghera . Jim . Trump nominates Brendan Carr to fill final FCC seat and provide crucial vote on net neutrality rules . 8 August 2017 . . June 29, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231022070004/https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fcc-brendan-carr-20170628-story.html . 2023-10-22 . live.
  9. Web site: Kelly . Makena . October 29, 2020 . Meet the man who could lead the GOP's war on platform moderation . December 8, 2022 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20240702202555/https://www.theverge.com/21280814/brendan-carr-section-230-republican-party-regulation-social-media . 2024-07-02 . live.
  10. Web site: Carr . Brendan . A Conservative Path Forward on Big Tech Opinion . 2021-06-30 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200730115031/https://www.newsweek.com/conservative-path-forward-big-tech-opinion-1520375 . July 30, 2020 . en . July 27, 2020 . live.
  11. Web site: Allen-Ebrahimian . Bethany . 2022-11-01 . FCC commissioner says government should ban TikTok . 2022-12-08 . . . https://web.archive.org/web/20221207095039/https://www.axios.com/2022/11/01/interview-fcc-commissioner-says-government-should-ban-tiktok . December 7, 2022 . live . en.
  12. Web site: Fung . Brian . November 2, 2022 . FCC commissioner calls for TikTok ban . . December 8, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221103135003/https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/02/tech/fcc-commissioner-tiktok-ban/index.html . 2022-11-03 . en . live.
  13. News: Evan. Dou. Cristiano. Limo-Strong. November 17, 2024 . Trump picks Brendan Carr, who laid out agenda in Project 2025, as FCC chairman . The Washington Post.
  14. Web site: Stelter . Brian . November 18, 2024 . Brendan Carr wrote the FCC chapter in ‘Project 2025.’ Now he’s Trump’s pick for the agency. . en.
  15. Web site: Hendel . John . June 2, 2020 . Trump's unexpected ally in the fight against tech . 2022-12-08 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200610211055/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/02/trump-tech-fight-fcc-295422 . 2020-06-10 . Arlington County, Virginia . en . live.
  16. Web site: PN672 — Brendan Carr — Federal Communications Commission 118th Congress (2023-2024) . US Congress . 2 October 2023.
  17. Web site: Trump Picks Brendan Carr to Lead F.C.C. . November 17, 2024 . Kang . Cecilia . . November 17, 2024.
  18. Web site: Brendan Carr – Commissioner . . 2017-08-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170818100042/https://www.fcc.gov/about/leadership/brendan-carr . 2017-08-18 . Washington, DC . en . live.
  19. Web site: David. Shepardson. Timothy. Gardner. Trump taps Big Tech critic Carr to chair Federal Communications Commission. Reuters. November 18, 2024. November 19, 2024. Trump nominated Carr to the FCC in his first administration in January 2017 after he had served as the FCC’s general counsel..
  20. News: Johnson . Ted . August 3, 2017 . Senate Confirms Jessica Rosenworcel, Brendan Carr to FCC . Variety . 8 August 2017.
  21. Web site: Congress.gov: Brendan Carr - FCC . 12 May 2022 . Congress.gov.
  22. Web site: Brodkin . Jon . 2020-05-29 . FCC Republican excitedly endorses Trump's crackdown on social media . 2022-12-08 . Ars Technica . en-us.
  23. Web site: Egan . Casey . September 28, 2020 . What FCC might look like under 2nd Trump term . 2022-12-08 . S&P Global Market Intelligence . en-us.
  24. Web site: Eggerton . John . 2021-04-09 . FCC's Brendan Carr Blasts Biden's Broadband Billions . 2022-12-08 . Multichannel News . en.
  25. Web site: 2022-05-09 . Biden's 'disinformation board' should be shut down: FCC Commissioner . 2022-12-08 . NRB . en-US . 2022-12-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221208045417/https://nrb.org/articles/news/bidens-disinformation-board-should-be-shut-down-fcc-commissioner/ . dead .
  26. Web site: Allen-Ebrahimian . Bethany . 2022-11-01 . In a first, FCC commissioner visits Taiwan . 2022-12-08 . Axios . en.
  27. Web site: Nghiem . Quinn . 2023-05-31 . FCC Commissioner Carr Criticizes BEAD Fiber Priority Ahead of Funding Allocation . 2024-02-13 . Broadband Breakfast . en.
  28. Web site: PN672 — Brendan Carr — Federal Communications Commission 118th Congress (2023-2024) . US Congress . 2 October 2023.
  29. Web site: Kelly . Makena . October 29, 2020 . Meet the man who could lead the GOP's war on platform moderation . June 30, 2021 . . en.
  30. Web site: April 27, 2022 . Carr Rejects Call for FCC to Block Musk's Purchase of Twitter . 2022-07-02 . . en.
  31. Web site: Muenster . Roxana . 2024-07-22 . Project 2025: What a second Trump term could mean for media and technology policies . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240722153846/https://www.brookings.edu/articles/project-2025-what-a-second-trump-term-could-mean-for-media-and-technology-policies/ . 2024-07-22 . 2024-07-22 . . en-US.
  32. Book: Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise . . 2023 . 978-0-89195-174-2 . Dans . Paul . 845–859 . Federal Communications Commission . 2024-07-22 . Groves . Steven . https://web.archive.org/web/20240822104456/https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf . 2024-08-22 . live.
  33. Web site: Taglang . Kevin . 2024-07-19 . Project 2025: Brendan Carr's Agenda for the FCC . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240722153706/https://www.benton.org/blog/project-2025-brendan-carrs-agenda-fcc . 2024-07-22 . 2024-07-22 . . en.
  34. Web site: Knolle . Sharon . November 11, 2022 . FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr Doubles Down on Banning TikTok: 'Digital Fentanyl' . 2022-12-06 . . en-US.
  35. Web site: Dress . Brad . 2022-12-06 . US intelligence chief: Parents 'should be' concerned for kids' privacy on TikTok . 2022-12-06 . The Hill . en-US.
  36. Web site: 2011-05-24 . The FCC and Speech . 2022-12-15 . Federal Communications Commission . en.
  37. Web site: Allen-Ebrahimian . Bethany . November 1, 2022 . Interview: FCC commissioner says government should ban TikTok . November 2, 2022 . . en.
  38. Web site: Barrabi . Thomas . 2022-06-28 . TikTok should be banned from Apple, Google stores over data concerns: FCC commissioner . 2022-06-29 . New York Post . en-US.
  39. Web site: Fung . Brian . 2022-12-05 . DOJ antitrust regulators should look at Apple, Google's handling of TikTok, says FCC commissioner . 2022-12-06 . CNN . en.
  40. Web site: Roth . Emma . 2024-02-12 . FCC commissioner wants to investigate Apple over Beeper Mini shutdown . 2024-02-13 . . en.

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