In a speech at the 2025 Media Institute Communications Forum on May 15, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized what she called the Trump administration’s “campaign to censor and control” stating “[S]ince day one the FCC has been implementing the will of this Administration and undermining the First Amendment at every turn.” Gomez said the administration has “initiated investigations and
floated debilitating rate regulation schemes that target national network broadcasters for their newsrooms’ editorial decisions, harassed private companies for their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts, and threatened tech companies that respond to consumer demands for content moderation and fact-checking. Separately, they have attempted to shutter Voice of America and sought retribution against lawful residents that protest Administration policies.” She cited two occasions where presidents – FDR in 1939, and John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s – asked their FCC Chairs to shut down media outlets critical of their policies and those FCC Chairmen boldly refused. She added, “This is what courage looks like—FCC Chairs refusing to wield the agency’s licensing authority as a weapon in contravention of the First Amendment and the Communications Act, even in the face of political pressure.”
