When it comes to Washington politics, it’s just another oversight hearing for the Federal Communications Commission conducted by the unit of Congress that is responsible for keeping tabs on the agency. For some in the mainstream press, it’s a big event, as it will see FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on Capitol Hill for the first time since September’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! flap.
As posted to social media platform X late Friday (11/7), Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene a full committee hearing on Wednesday, December 17 to conduct oversight of the Commission.
While Reuters and other news organizations played up the appearance of Chairman Carr and Commissioners Anna Gómez and Olivia Trusty on the Hill as a potentially juicy affair some three months after Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended by ABC for comments made by the host regarding the alleged assassin of conservative political operative Charlie Kirk, the hearing is a very normal action seen in every Congressional session. As Carr appeared on a podcast to publicly address Jimmy Kimmel’s commentary, which was false, and suggested the FCC could investigate, a firestorm ensued. While it has ended, the FCC’s “public interest” standard’s return with vengeance has the potential to turn the hearing into a press spectacle.
What is perhaps more notable to Capitol Hill watchdogs is that the last Senate Commerce Committee oversight hearing with “all” FCC commissioners present was June 24, 2020, under the leadership of Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
One may wish to put an asterisk on that factoid from Senate Commerce Republicans, as the current FCC is two Commissioners shy of its five-seat normalcy.
As of Monday morning, further details regarding the upcoming hearing were not yet posted to the Senate Commerce Committee’s website. On X, a variety of comments ranging from derogatory to supportive were seen.
For Reuters, the spin is that Democrats will push Carr to discuss the circumstances regarding Paramount’s merger approval with Skydance Media, and complaints from a conservative political action committee that led to the reinstatement of investigations into CBS, ABC and NBC for content that could not be in the “public interest.”
Such Senate scrutiny from opposition politicians will likely create mainstream press headlines. However, it’s just another day Inside the Beltway for the FCC Three as the agency moves ahead with December Open Meeting agenda planning.
