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Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell (Calif.) on Thursday suggested Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr “get a lawyer” for when Democrats take the majority in Congress at the midterms.
Carr has faced significant heat from Democrats for encouraging ABC to remove host Jimmy Kimmel from airwaves after he made a joke about the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.
“I want to make it clear, there’s going to be a Democratic majority in just over a year,” Swalwell said during a Thursday hearing.
“And to the FCC chairperson and anyone involved in these dirty deals, get a lawyer and save your records because you’re going to be in this room and you’re going to be answering questions about the deals that you struck and who benefited and what the cost was to the American people because that happened,” he continued.
Republican officials remain outraged over Kirk’s death and have pledged to crack down on any celebratory statements.
Carr has remained critical of media outlets that have not chosen to pre-empt the Kimmel show, following the lead of ABC and Nexstar Media Group, which owns The Hill.
“Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest. While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values,” Carr wrote in a Wednesday statement on X.
However, Democratic lawmakers have decried Kimmel’s removal, citing concerns of censorship. Some have called for Carr’s resignation after the FCC chair threatened during a podcast interview to revoke ABC affiliate licenses if they didn’t take action to punish the late-night host.
“Brendan Carr, the so-called Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has engaged in the corrupt abuse of power,” top House Democrats said in a joint statement released by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) on the social platform X. “He has disgraced the office he holds by bullying ABC, the employer of Jimmy Kimmel, and forcing the company to bend the knee to the Trump administration.”
“FCC Chair Brendan Carr should resign immediately. Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s war on the First Amendment is blatantly inconsistent with American values,” they added.
The statement came from Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.), House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (Calif.), Vice Chair Ted Lieu (Calif.), Assistant Leader Joe Neguse (Colo.) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene (Wash.).
It coincided with California Rep. Robert Garcia’s decision to launch an investigation into Kimmel’s removal as the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
