Democracy

Is the FCC an Independent Agency? Legal Experts Say Yes

Experts dispute FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's denial of agency independence

Jericho Casper

Jericho Casper

— 4 min read
Is the FCC an Independent Agency? Legal Experts Say Yes
Photo of Bob Corn-Revere, chief counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, from FIRE.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2025 – Communications law experts pushed back Thursday after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Republican Commissioner Olivia Trusty asserted the Federal Communications Commission is not an independent regulatory agency.

Citing Supreme Court precedent in Wiener vs. United States and the commission structure Congress established in the Radio Act of 1927 and the Communications Act of 1934, former FCC chief counsel Bob Corn-Revere and Public Knowledge senior vice president Harold Feld said Congress deliberately designed the FCC to operate independent from executive influence.

“Congress made it very, very clear: we want this to be an independent commission, to exercise independent judgment and to be insulated from political influence to the greatest extent possible,” Feld told Broadband Breakfast.

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Post tagged in
Democracy FCC Brendan Carr Olivia Trusty Supreme Court Wiener v. United States Bob Corn-Revere Harold Feld Humphrey's Executor Senate Commerce Committee Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression Clayton Weimers Reporters Without Borders

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