Brendan Thomas Carr (born January 5, 1979) is an American lawyer who has served as a member of the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) since 2017. Appointed to the position by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, Carr previously served as the agency's

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

and as an aide to FCC commissioner

Ajit Pai Ajit Varadaraj Pai (; born January 10, 1973) is an American lawyer who served as chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2017 to 2021. He has been a partner at the private-equity firm Searchlight Capital since April 20 ...

. In private practice, Carr formerly worked as a telecommunications attorney at

Wiley Rein Wiley Rein LLP (known as Wiley) is one of the largest law firms in Washington, D.C., United States. With 240 lawyers, the firm represents clients in complex regulatory, litigation, and transactional matters. Many of the firm's lawyers and public ...

. Described as "the right's regulator-in-chief," Carr supports changes to

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act Section 230 is a section of Title 47 of the United States Code that was enacted as part of the United States Communications Decency Act and generally provides immunity for website platforms with respect to third-party content. At its core, Secti ...

and opposes

net neutrality Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent rates irrespective of co ...

protections. Carr is noted for his support for banning

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

on national security grounds. In office, Carr has been noted for being unusually vocal about public policy issues for a regulatory appointee, accusing

House Intelligence Committee The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary committ ...

chair

Adam Schiff Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who has served as a U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented since 2013. Schiff's district (numbered as the 2 ...

of overseeing a “secret and partisan surveillance machine”.

Early life and education

Carr was born on January 5, 1979, in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. He graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in 2001 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. He later attended

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

Columbus School of Law The Columbus School of Law, also known as Catholic Law or CUA Law, is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. More than 400 Juris Doctor students attend Catholic Law ...

, where he was an editor of the ''

Catholic University Law Review The ''Catholic University Law Review'' is a student-run quarterly law review published by the Columbus School of Law (The Catholic University of America). Overview The journal was established in 1950 and is the Columbus School of Law's oldest l ...

''. He graduated in 2005 with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

''.

Legal career

From 2005 to 2007, Carr was an associate in private practice at the law firm

, where he worked on appellate and

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

legal matters. He was a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Judge Dennis Shedd of the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryland ...

from 2007 to 2008, then rejoined Wiley Rein.

Early FCC career

Carr joined the

(FCC) as a legal advisor to commissioner

. In this capacity, Carr advised on wireless, public safety, and international issues. In January 2017, Carr became general counsel of the FCC.

Member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

President

nominated Carr to become a commissioner of the FCC in June 2017, and Carr was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in August 2017. Carr was renominated to a full five year term by President Trump in 2018 and confirmed by Congress on a voice vote on January 2, 2019. His term runs from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2023.

Tenure

Trump administration

As a member of the FCC, Carr has been noted for being unusually vocal about public policy issues for a regulatory appointee. While in office, Carr accused

chair

of overseeing a “secret and partisan surveillance machine”. Carr argued in 2020 that the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

was “beclowned” in its response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In the run-up to the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...

, Carr publicly accused social media platforms of being biased against the Trump reelection campaign. During an on-air interview with ''

Lou Dobbs Tonight ''Lou Dobbs Tonight'' was an American political and financial talk program that was hosted by Lou Dobbs. The program initially aired on CNN from its launch under the title ''Moneyline'', as its main financial news program. The program later shift ...

'' on

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

, Carr stated that "Since the 2016 election, the far left has hopped from hoax to hoax to hoax to explain how it lost to President Trump at the ballot box." In 2020, observers including Doug Brake of the

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a U.S. nonprofit public policy think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on public policy surrounding industry and technology. , the University of Pennsylvania ranks ITIF as the m ...

(ITIF) and Chris Lewis of

Public Knowledge Public Knowledge is a non-profit Washington, D.C.-based public interest group. Founded in 2001 by David Bollier and Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge is primarily involved in the fields of intellectual property law, competition and choice in the digita ...

speculated that Carr would be a leading candidate to serve as FCC chairman under a second term for Trump.

Biden administration

In 2021, Carr criticized the

Biden Administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...

's proposal for $100 billion in new broadband deployment as part of the original

American Jobs Plan The Build Back Better Plan or Build Back Better agenda was a legislative framework proposed by U.S. president Joe Biden between 2020 and 2021. Generally viewed as ambitious in size and scope, and even after it was reduced in size, it became the ...

proposal. In May 2022, Carr called for the

Disinformation Governance Board The Disinformation Governance Board (DGB) was an advisory board of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), announced on April 27, 2022. The board's stated function is to protect national security by disseminating guidance to DHS ...

, an advisory board within the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

, to be shut down, slamming the body as "

Orwellian "Orwellian" is an adjective describing a situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. It denotes an attitude and a brutal policy of draconian control by pr ...

". In November 2022, Carr travelled to

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

to attend meetings on cybersecurity and telecommunications matters. In doing so, he became the first member of the agency to visit the island in an official capacity.

Political positions

Carr is an opponent of

protections and has endorsed efforts to reform

. Carr vehemently opposed efforts to block the

acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk Business magnate Elon Musk initiated the acquisition of American social media company Twitter, Inc. on April 14, 2022, and concluded it on October 27, 2022. Musk began buying Twitter shares in January 2022, eventually becoming the company's ...

TikTok regulation

A critic of

, Carr has accused the platform of harming users and undermining national security, and has referred to TikTok as "digital

fentanyl Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocaine ...

". Carr has said that parents whose children use the application should be concerned with their privacy. The FCC has no authority to regulate online content and platforms like TikTok, and has limited powers to restrict or ban speech. In June 2022, Carr wrote an open letter urging

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

and

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

to remove TikTok from their respective app stores, arguing the platform poses a security risk. In a November 2022 interview with ''Axios'', Carr reiterated that he believes the

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS, commonly pronounced "Cifius" ) is an inter-agency committee of the United States government that reviews the national security implications of foreign investments in U.S. companie ...

(CFIUS) should ban TikTok. Carr privately wrote a letter to

Jonathan Kanter Jonathan Seth Kanter (born July 30, 1973) is an American antitrust attorney who has served as assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division since November 16, 2021. Prior to this, Kanter worked as an antitrust ...

Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...

for the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, where he urged the DOJ to scrutinize Apple and Google's handling of TikTok on their app stores. Brendan Carr (38719738440)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Brendan 1979 births 21st-century American lawyers Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Georgetown College (Georgetown University) alumni Columbus School of Law alumni Living people Members of the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission personnel Trump administration personnel