White House Pressure on Newsrooms a ‘B.F.D.,’ FCC’s Gomez Warns

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2025 – Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez delivered a forceful rebuke Thursday of what she called a “campaign to censor and control,” accusing the White House of weaponizing the FCC to punish political dissent and undermine First Amendment protections.

“We are witnessing a dangerous precedent: the transformation of an independent regulator into an instrument of political censorship,” said Democrat Gomez, speaking at the Media Institute’s Communications Forum here. “This FCC has made clear that it will go after any news outlet that dares to report the truth, if that truth is unfavorable to this Administration.”

Gomez described unprecedented White House-directed pressure on independent agencies. At the FCC, that has included attempts to reinterpret Section 230 to expose platforms to lawsuits for content moderation decisions, attacks on media companies over Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, and politically motivated interference in FCC licensing decisions, she said.

“Unfortunately, the Administration's efforts to censor and control appear to be working, at least for now,” Gomez said. “Some media outlets are finding it is easier to retreat in the face of government threats, veiled or otherwise, than to be responsive to their audiences.”

She pointed to the recent resignation of 60 Minutes Executive Producer Bill Owens as evidence of escalating editorial pressure. Owens, who had been with CBS since 1988, stepped down last month amid political fallout over a $20 billion lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against CBS and corporate parent Paramount Global. Trump alleged the show deceptively edited an interview with Kamala Harris late in the 2024 campaign.

Shortly afterward, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr launched an investigation into CBS and threatened to revoke its broadcast license, citing alleged “news distortion” filed in a complaint by the Center for American Rights.

“Owens resigned because he no longer felt he had the ‘independence that honest journalism requires,’” Gomez said. “Pardon my language, but that is a B.F.D.”

Carr for his part, has consistently flipped the narrative of media bias back onto Democrats.

“It does not surprise me that, for the businesses, individuals, and interests that benefited from this Biden-era weaponization, the FCC’s fair and balanced treatment of today feels like discrimination. But that does not make it so,” Carr wrote to Senators last month.

Gomez further condemned what she described as a coordinated campaign to silence both traditional journalists and digital platforms. She said the administration has pressured tech companies to stop moderating content and threatened to reinterpret Section 230 to expose them to legal liability.

“These are not good-faith regulatory efforts,” she said. “These are intimidation tactics meant to control who gets to speak.”

To push back, Gomez announced a nationwide “First Amendment Tour,” partnering with advocacy groups across the ideological spectrum to raise public awareness of what she characterized as escalating censorship.

“I refuse to stay quiet while the government weaponizes its regulatory tools to undermine the First Amendment,” she said. “This is how I’m using my voice. I encourage you to use yours too.”

Gomez said she was ready to sacrifice her job, if necessary.

“And if I’m removed from my seat on the Commission,” she concluded, “let it be said plainly: It wasn’t because I failed to do my job. It’s because I insisted on doing it.”