The FCC earlier this year told local broadcasters they could be fined or lose their licenses if they aired “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

Chair Brendan Carr suggested on Wednesday that the agency is not independent from President Trump’s administration after being pressed by senators on

Congress long ago determined that the FCC is an independent expert agency,’ FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who now says the agency is not independent, said in 2018.

The EO tasks the agency chair with initiating a proceeding on whether federal AI standards can preempt state laws.

The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday deleted a longstanding reference to the agency's independence just minutes after a Democratic senator questioned the agency's Republican head on the telecom regulator's authority.

Now, given the opportunity to prod Carr on Capitol Hill, Cruz scolded him in person. “Democrat or Republican, we cannot have the government arbitrating truth or opinion,” Cruz told Carr on Wednesday.