{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.lujan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/lujan-questioning-exposes-that-fcc-is-no-longer-an-independent-agency/", "Luj\u00e1n Questioning Exposes that FCC is no Longer an Independent Agency", "2025-12-17", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "NM", "Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n", "L000570", "www.lujan.senate.gov", "lujan", "https://www.lujan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list", "scraper", "FCC Chairman Carr in Response to Senator Luj\u00e1n\u2019s Questioning: \u201cThe FCC is not an Independent Agency\u201d\n\nFCC Edits Website Minutes After Questioning to Strip Word \u201cIndependent\u201d\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, pressed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing regarding the independence of the FCC.\n\nIn Senator Luj\u00e1n\u2019s questioning, he pressed FCC Chairman Carr on the independence of the FCC and displayed images of the FCC\u2019s own website, which minutes prior to the hearing, stated in its mission statement that the FCC is \u201c[a]n independent U.S. government agency.\u201d In response to Senator Luj\u00e1n, Chairman Carr contradicted previous testimony he has given and the FCC\u2019s own mission statement by stating that the FCC is not an independent agency. Minutes after Senator Luj\u00e1n\u2019s questioning, the FCC edited its own website to remove the word \u201cindependent.\u201d\n\n\u201cToday\u2019s hearing made clear to the American people that Chairman Brendan Carr has weaponized the FCC on behalf of President Trump. Just this morning, the FCC\u2019s own website correctly stated that it was an independent agency. In 2022, before Congress, Chairman Carr himself testified that the FCC was \u2018an independent, expert agency.\u2019 However, in today\u2019s hearing, Chairman Carr contradicted himself and his own agency\u2019s stated mission. Minutes later, the FCC edited its own website to cover Chairman Carr\u2019s tracks and to please President Trump. Chairman Carr continues to fail the American people by treating the FCC as an extension of the President\u2019s corrupt agenda,\u201d said Senator Luj\u00e1n.\n\nWatch Senator Luj\u00e1n\u2019s exchange with FCC Chairman Carr here.\n\nKEY MOMENTS:\n\nSen. Luj\u00e1n: Chairman Carr, yes or no, and please yes or no. Is the FCC an independent agency?\n\nChairman Carr: Thanks for that question.\n\nSen. Luj\u00e1n: Yes or no is all we need.\n\nChairman Carr: There is a test for this in the law.\n\nSen. Luj\u00e1n: On your website, it says the FCC is independent. This is not a trick question.\n\nChairman Carr: It is not independent.\n\nSen. Luj\u00e1n: Is your website wrong? Is your website lying?\n\nChairman Carr: The FCC is not an independent agency.\n\nSen. Luj\u00e1n: The FCC\u2019s mission on the homepage of the FCC: \u201cAn Independent U.S. Government agency overseen by Congress.\u201d Is that factual? Is that a lie?\n\nChairman Carr: The FCC is not formally an independent agency.\n\nSen. Luj\u00e1n: Is this true, or is this a lie?\n\nChairman Carr: The FCC is not an independent agency, formally speaking.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.lujan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/lujan-questioning-exposes-that-fcc-is-no-longer-an-independent-agency/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 4.539344925433397, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}