Brendan Carr, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said on Tuesday that the agency will end its promotion of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) next year.
Carr outlined some of the targets that the agency will address under his watch in a series of statements on X. He wants to dismantle the censorship cartel and restore Americans’ free-speech rights.
“Broadcast media have had the privilege of using a scarce and valuable public resource—our airwaves,” Carr posted. “In turn, they are required by law to operate in the public interest. When the transition is complete, the FCC will enforce this public interest obligation.”
Trump’s FCC appointee also wants to turn focus away from DEI initiatives and focus solely on the agency’s mission. He vowed that the FCC will no longer consider DEI as a key strategy, sharing on X that the agency’s recent budget placed the program as its second-highest strategic goal for fiscal year 2025.
According to his post, the FCC wanted to gain a deeper understanding of how rules, policies, and programs may “promote or inhibit advances in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.”
However, Carr said that starting next year, the FCC will end its promotion of DEI.
Carr is currently the top Republican on the FCC. In 2017, Trump nominated Carr as FCC commissioner.
In announcing his pick for agency chair, Trump praised Carr for fighting against the regulatory warfare that has stifled Americans’ freedoms and held back the economy. He also called him a warrior for free speech.
“Commissioner Carr is a warrior for free speech and has fought against the regulatory lawfare that has stifled Americans’ freedoms and held back our economy,” according to Trump’s statement. “He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America’s job creators and innovators and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America.”
DEI policies have become a focus for some lawmakers and social justice activists. Its policies are typically used to encourage businesses, colleges, and other institutions to prioritize minority groups like people of color when hiring or for program admissions. Critics, however, have argued that opportunities should be available to individuals based on ability and merit and that race, gender, and sexual orientation should not be used to prop up particular individuals.
In June 2021, Biden issued an executive order calling for federal agencies to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion. Over the course of the Biden administration, DEI initiatives have been applied throughout the federal government. According to a recent report from the watchdog group Open the Books, the Department of Health and Human Services spent $38.7 million annually on diversity-related expenses.
Other individuals chosen by Trump to serve in his upcoming administration have also expressed opposition to DEI.
Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department, said that DEI accommodations and training within the military should be removed.
“Well, first of all, you got to fire, you know, you got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” Hegseth sai during the Shawn Ryan podcast last week. “Any general that was involved—general, admiral, whatever—that was involved in any of the DEI woke [expletive], it’s got to go,” he added.
Elon Musk, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has publicly made comments expressing his opposition to DEI policies.
“DEI is just another word for racism. Shame on anyone who uses it,” Musk wrote in a post on X in January 2024 in response to an essay written by hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman who said that such a practice could lead to “racism against white people.”
In June 2024, Rep. Mike Cloud (R-Texas) and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), now vice president-elect, proposed a bill, Dismantle DEI Act, that would eliminate DEI programs from the government.
On Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability voted along party lines to advance the bill to a full House vote.
Meanwhile, Carr stated on X that he is humbled to be chosen as Trump’s FCC appointee.
“Now let’s get to work,” Carr wrote.
His position as FCC chairman requires Senate confirmation.