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If you have given Lots to think about Federal Communications Commission In recent years, it may have had something to do with it Brendan Carr. Carr, the group’s president since 2025, has been on an ongoing public rampage against free speech: He has gone after late-night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel, threatened to revoke their broadcast licenses over coverage of the Iran war, and targeted networks over their DEI policies.
As disturbing as Carr’s rhetoric and actions are, he counts at least one dissenter within the agency: Commissioner Anna Gomez, currently the only Democrat among the FCC’s three commissioners, has been vocal about the harm she believes the agency is doing to American press freedom, and has repeatedly urged the public and the press, specifically major networks like ABC, CBS and NBC, to respond.
In May, Commissioner Gomez drafted A Amazing public speech To Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, she warned that the company — which owns ABC — was being subjected to a “sustained and coordinated campaign of censorship and control, carried out by weaponizing the power of the FCC as a federal regulator and intended to pressure a free and independent press.” Gomez urged D’Amaro to fight her agency’s actions, adding, “This is a fight worth fighting, and I’m confident you will win.”
I wanted to talk to Commissioner Gomez about that bold message, the risks she sees for the media and the American public under the Trump administration, and how she’s working alongside a president with whom she strongly disagrees. Gomez, whose term at the FCC ends this month, was gracious enough to sit down and talk about it all. You can read our conversation below, or listen to it on your podcast platform of choice.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Katie Drummond: Hello, Commissioner Gomez. Thank you for being here.
Anna Gomez: Thanks. It’s great to be here.
I want to start off, before we talk more about Disney and your message and everything related to it, 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 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the country’s telecommunications regulator. Overall, our mission is to make sure that everyone in the country is connected, for example, to high-speed broadband; to license the airwaves just as we do with your mobile phones, with satellites, and with broadcasters; To protect consumers, like our ongoing battle with robocallers.
Worse, yes.
To ensure that public safety has what it needs to do its job, this usually means through the airwaves, and to ensure that innovation can move forward, for example by negotiating internationally to use the airwaves, so that we can obtain new products and services.
To be clear, the FCC regulates what is broadcast over the air — such as radio and television — but it does not regulate, for example, cable services, streaming, or digital content? So this podcast, for example. Or if you turn on your TV and decide to watch Netflix instead of a TV channel, that will not be within the FCC’s jurisdiction.
This is correct. Our authority really comes from our ability to license the airwaves to these broadcasters. We have minimal cable regulations, but for the most part, we only regulate broadcast television.
I have worked with the FCC in various roles for many years. I was sworn in as Commissioner in 2023. What does a Commissioner actually do? Tell us a little about your day-to-day work.
