FCC's Carr: Confirm Simington to Stall Democrats

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr endorsed Simington’s nomination, saying he needs another Republican alongside him on the five-member commission come Inauguration Day to stymie Democrats in a deadlocked 2-2 FCC. “It’d be very valuable to get Simington across the finish line to help forestall what really would be billions of dollars worth of economic damage that I think a [Democratic] FCC would look to jam through from Day 1,” Commissioner Carr cautioned during an appearance on Fox Business. Democrats would, of course, strongly dispute that their agenda items — which are likely to include a revival of Obama-era net neutrality rules — would cause such harm. (Commissioner Carr also questioned whether the incoming FCC would maintain its aggressive stance on China and flagged the “deep ties in Silicon Valley” of some of President-elect Joe Biden’s advisers.) Despite Carr’s rhetoric, he’s still managing to find (some) consensus with his Democratic colleagues.