If you have given has been widely considered by the Federal Communications Commission in recent years, it probably had something to do with Brendan Carr. Chairman of the group since 2025, Carr has been busy opposing freedom of speech: he has gone after late-night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel, threatened to revoke broadcast licenses for coverage of the Iran war, and targeted networks for their DEI policies.
Disturbing as Carr’s words and actions have always been, he has at least one adversary at the agency: Commissioner Anna Gomez, currently the only Democrat among the FCC’s three commissioners, has spoken out about the damage she thinks the agency is doing to America’s freedom of the press — and has repeatedly urged the public and the media, such as major networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC, to fight back.
In May, Commissioner Gomez wrote a scathing public letter to Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, in which he warned that the company – which owns ABC – is facing “an ongoing, systematic campaign of surveillance and control, carried out using the weapons of the FCC’s authority as a federal regulator and aimed at suppressing a free and independent media.” Gomez urged D’Amaro to fight the actions of his organization, adding that “this is a fight that he must have, and one that I am sure he will win.”
I wanted to talk to Commissioner Gomez about that bold letter, the dangers he sees in the media and the American public under the Trump administration, and how he works with a chairman he strongly disagrees with. Gomez, whose FCC term expires this month, was generous enough to sit down and talk about it all. You can read our interview below, or listen to it on the podcast platform of your choice.
This interview is edited for length and clarity.
KATIE DRUMMOND: Welcome, Commissioner Gomez. Thank you for being here.
ANNA GOMEZ: Thank you. It’s great to be here.
I want to start, before we talk more about Disney and your book and everything else, with a very basic question for our listeners. What is the primary role of your agency? Give me FCC 101. What does the FCC do?
Well, the FCC is the country’s telecommunications regulator. More broadly, our job is to ensure that everyone in the country is connected, for example, to high-speed broadband; issuing radio licenses as we do with your cell phones, satellites, and broadcasters; consumer protection, such as our ongoing fight against robocallers.
The worst, yes.
Ensuring that public safety has what it takes to do its job, usually through the airwaves, and ensuring that innovation can continue, means through international discussions on the use of the airwaves, so that we have new products and services.
To be clear, the FCC regulates over-the-air—so radio, television—but doesn’t regulate, for example, cable or broadcast services or digital content? So this podcast, for example. Or if you turn on your TV and decide to watch Netflix instead of deciding to watch a TV channel, that would not be within the FCC’s purview.
That’s right. Our authority really comes from our ability to grant broadcasting licenses to these broadcasters. We have very few cable regulations, but for the most part, we only regulate broadcast television.
He has been with the FCC in various roles for many years. He was sworn in as commissioner in 2023. What does the commissioner do? Tell us a little about your day job.
