Former FCC officials want to force a vote on the ‘weapon’ Brendan Carr has invoked against broadcasters

Several former Federal Communications Commissioners and staffers across parties are urging a federal appeals court to force a vote on the FCC’s news distortion policy, which they argue should be repealed after being abused by Republican Chair Brendan Carr. On Tuesday, a group of petitioners asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to require the FCC to vote on a petition to repeal the News Distortion Policy. The petition was filed by the bipartisan group of former officials in November of 2025, after Carr invoked the rule to pressure ABC into temporarily suspending comedian Jimmy Kimmel. But only the agency chair can bring it to the full commission for a vote, and Carr has so far failed to do so while opposing a repeal. Now, the former officials are asking the court to grant a writ of mandamus, which would compel the FCC to take action. The goal is to force a response from the agency, putting each of the three commissioners on the record about the policy, and opening a potential legal pathway to remove a tool the group believes has been weaponized. “The News Distortion Policy is a loaded gun that Chairman Carr is using to threaten broadcasters,” Mark Fowler, a Republican who led the agency in the ’80s, said in a statement. “Until it is repealed, we will not have a free press.” Tom Wheeler, a former Democratic chair from 2013 to 2017, had a similar warning. …