FCC chair tells the Senate the commission is "not an independent agency, formally speaking," and the word is cut from its mission statement that afternoon
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr testified to a Senate committee that the agency he governs "is not an independent agency, formally speaking," and during his testimony the word "independent" was removed from the FCC's mission statement on its website.
What happened
Carr made the statement during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee oversight hearing in Washington, D.C. on December 17, 2025. Sen. Ben Ray Luján began the line of questioning by citing the FCC's website, which said the agency was independent as of that Wednesday morning; by Wednesday afternoon the mission statement no longer said it was independent. An FCC spokesperson told Axios that "with the change in administration earlier this year, the FCC's website and materials required updating," and that "that work continues to ensure that they reflect the positions of the agency's new leadership." Carr would not respond directly to questions about whether he believed the president was his boss.
Why it matters
Independence is what allows a communications regulator to decide license matters without the White House in the room, and an agency's published description of itself is the plainest available statement of how it understands its own position. This record notes the testimony and the same-day website edit together because between them they change the agency's account of what it is, rather than only who staffs it.