Trump's Pick To Lead FCC Vows To Gut Agency's DEI Program

President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head the Federal Communications Commission vowed Monday to end the agency's efforts to boost diversity, equity and inclusion as part of its mission.

"The FCC's most recent budget request said that promoting DEI was the agency's second highest strategic goal," FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr wrote on social media. "Starting next year, the FCC will end its promotion of DEI."

Carr, who wrote the FCC chapter in the Heritage Foundation's "Project 2025" conservative blueprint for running the U.S. government, also posted a snippet of the FCC's strategic plan for fiscal 2022-2026.

It calls for a "deeper understanding of how the agency's rules, policies, and programs may promote or inhibit advances in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility," as well as efforts to "eliminate historical, systemic, and structural barriers that perpetuate disadvantaged or underserved individuals and communities."

This year's Republican Party platform included a pledge to stop "woke" government, referencing a term that conservatives often use to deride DEI initiatives and other progressive policies.

Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also called the recent election results, which will put the GOP in charge of the White House and both chambers of Congress, a mandate for changes that include an "end to wokeness."

As president, Trump appointed Carr to the FCC in 2017 and he's one of two Republicans among its five commissioners.

Carr — an ally of billionaire Trump confidant Elon Musk — would replace Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, whose latest five-year term as a commissioner expires next year.

The agency regulates interstate and international communications in the U.S., including by licensing TV and radio stations.

Its proposed budget for fiscal 2025 is nearly $450 billion and it has about 1,750 permanent employees, of whom 59% are white, 31% are Black or African-American and 7% are Asian, according to figures compiled by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The other goals outlined in the agency's strategic plan include helping "bring affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband" internet access to 100% of the U.S. population as its No. 1 priority.

The third and fourth are empowering consumers and enhancing public safety and national security, respectively, followed by advancing America's global competitiveness and fostering "operational excellence."