Brendan Carr (lawyer)

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.[6] 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.[7]

Brendan Carr
Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission
Assumed office
August 11, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byTom Wheeler
General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission
In office
April 2017[1] – August 2017[1]
Acting: January 2017 – April 2017[1]
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byHoward J. Symons[2]
Succeeded byJennifer B. Tatel (acting)[3][4]
Personal details
Born
Brendan Thomas Carr[5]

(1979-01-05) January 5, 1979[1]
Washington, D.C., U.S.[1]
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMachalagh[1]
EducationGeorgetown University (BA)
Catholic University of America (JD)

Described as "the right's regulator-in-chief,"[8] Carr supports changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and opposes net neutrality protections.[8][9] Carr is noted for his support for banning TikTok on national security grounds.[10][11] 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”.[12]

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.

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,[13] then rejoined Wiley Rein.

Early FCC career

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.

Member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

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.[14] 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.[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]

Trump administration

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”.[12] Carr argued in 2020 that the World Health Organization was “beclowned” in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]

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."[17]

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.[18]

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.[19] 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".[20]

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.[21]

Political positions

Carr is an opponent of net neutrality protections and has endorsed efforts to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.[22][9] Carr vehemently opposed efforts to block the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk.[23]

TikTok regulation

A critic of TikTok, Carr has accused the platform of harming users and undermining national security, and has referred to TikTok as "digital fentanyl".[24] Carr has said that parents whose children use the application should be concerned with their privacy.[25] The FCC has no authority to regulate online content and platforms like TikTok, and has limited powers to restrict or ban speech.[26]

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.[27] 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.[28]

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.[29]

Carr in 2018

References
  1. Carr Testimony
  2. "FCC Chairman Announces General Counsel Transition". Federal Communications Commission. 2016-07-19. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  3. "Jennifer Beth Tatel Lawyer Profile on Martindale.com". www.martindale.com.
  4. "LinkedIn Profile".
  5. "Brendan Thomas Carr | The Federalist Society". November 6, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-11-06.
  6. Gold, Ashley; Hendel, John (August 3, 2017). "FCC back to full five members as net neutrality vote looms". Politico. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  7. Puzzanghera, Jim (June 29, 2017). "Trump nominates Brendan Carr to fill final FCC seat and provide crucial vote on net neutrality". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  8. Kelly, Makena (2020-10-29). "Meet Brendan Carr, the right's regulator in chief". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  9. Carr, Brendan (2020-07-27). "A conservative path forward on Big Tech | Opinion". Newsweek. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  10. Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany (2022-11-01). "Interview: FCC commissioner says government should ban TikTok". Axios. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  11. Fung, Brian (2022-11-02). "FCC commissioner calls for TikTok ban | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  12. Hendel, John (2020-06-02). "Trump's unexpected ally in the fight against tech". POLITICO. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  13. "Brendan Carr". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  14. Johnson, Ted (August 3, 2017). "Senate Confirms Jessica Rosenworcel, Brendan Carr to FCC". Variety. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  15. "Congress.gov: Brendan Carr - FCC". Congress.gov. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  16. "PN672 — Brendan Carr — Federal Communications Commission 118th Congress (2023-2024)". US Congress. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  17. Brodkin, Jon (2020-05-29). "FCC Republican excitedly endorses Trump's crackdown on social media". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  18. Egan, Casey (September 28, 2020). "What FCC might look like under 2nd Trump term". S&P Global Market Intelligence. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  19. Eggerton, John (2021-04-09). "FCC's Brendan Carr Blasts Biden's Broadband Billions". Multichannel News. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  20. "Biden's 'disinformation board' should be shut down: FCC Commissioner". NRB. 2022-05-09. Archived from the original on 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  21. Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany (2022-11-01). "In a first, FCC commissioner visits Taiwan". Axios. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  22. Kelly, Makena (2020-10-29). "Meet the man who could lead the GOP's war on platform moderation". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  23. "Carr Rejects Call for FCC to Block Musk's Purchase of Twitter". Federal Communications Commission. 2022-04-27. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  24. Knolle, Sharon (November 11, 2022). "FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr Doubles Down on Banning TikTok: 'Digital Fentanyl'". Yahoo!. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  25. Dress, Brad (2022-12-06). "US intelligence chief: Parents 'should be' concerned for kids' privacy on TikTok". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  26. "The FCC and Speech". Federal Communications Commission. 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  27. Barrabi, Thomas (2022-06-28). "TikTok should be banned from Apple, Google stores over data concerns: FCC commissioner". New York Post. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
  28. Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany (2022-11-01). "Interview: FCC commissioner says government should ban TikTok". Axios. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  29. Fung, Brian (2022-12-05). "DOJ antitrust regulators should look at Apple, Google's handling of TikTok, says FCC commissioner | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
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