Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr is expected to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee before the end of the year.
Carr’s looming testimony, which was confirmed to The Hill by a person familiar, comes just days after he took heavy criticism over his pressuring of ABC to take comedian Jimmy Kimmel off the air following the late-night host’s comments about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The FCC chief, after Kimmel accused Republicans of trying to score “political points” over Kirk’s assassination, suggested the host face consequences from the Disney-owned network and its affiliates.
The move caused backlash over censorship claims and many on the left called for Carr’s resignation.
News of his expected testimony was first reported by Semafor.
The Senate committee is chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who was one of the few Republicans to criticize Carr over the Kimmel saga, accusing him of trying to censor speech the administration does not like.
“I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I am thrilled that he was fired,” Cruz said on an episode of his podcast after Kimmel was taken off the air.
“But let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying ‘we don’t like what you the media have said, we’re going to ban you from the airwaves, if you don’t say what we like,’ that will end up bad for conservatives,” he added.
Kimmel, when his show returned to air, thanked Cruz and other conservatives for their defense.
