Happy New Year 2025

Tag: congressional

Trump Education nominee Linda McMahon says shutting down DOE would ‘require congressional action’

Former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) CEO Linda McMahon, tapped by President Donald Trump to head the Department of Education, is facing questions Thursday morning about her views on the agency’s future amid Trump’s quest to shutter it “immediately.”

During the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., first asked McMahon about whether she agrees the DOE would need Congressional approval to close it entirely.

“Certainly, President Trump understands that we’ll be working with Congress,” McMahon responded. “We’d like to do this right. We’d like to make sure that we are presenting a plan that I think our senators could get on board with, and our Congress could get on board with, that would have a better functioning Department of Education, but it certainly does require congressional action.”

INTO THE RING: TRUMP EDUCATION CHIEF PICK MCMAHON TO TESTIFY ON CUTTING ‘RED TAPE’ AMID DOGE SWEEPS

Trump hopes Linda McMahon will ‘put herself out of a job’ if confirmed to lead the Department of Education. (Getty Images)

Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., asked McMahon a similar question after a line of questioning about her support for Pell Grants.

“Let me just once again, get your feelings on this, that if there is a movement to abolish the Department of Education, it has to go through the United States Congress?” Sanders asked.

TRUMP EDUCATION DEPT LAUNCHES PROBE INTO ‘EXPLOSION OF ANTISEMITISM’ AT 5 UNIVERSITIES

President Donald Trump is seen in this March 2019 photo with McMahon, who worked in his first administration on the Small Business Administration. ( REUTERS/Joshua Roberts)

McMahon responded, “Yes, it is set up by the United States Congress, and we work with Congress. It clearly cannot be shut down without it.”

Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, asked McMahon about Maine’s TRIO programs that help first-generation college students from families without higher education experience. Collins questioned how these programs could be maintained if the Department of Education were “abolish[ed]” or “substantially reorganized.”

FORMER TRUMP EDUCATION SECRETARY LAYS OUT ‘UNFINISHED BUSINESS’ FOR NEW ADMIN ON SCHOOL REFORMS

“These various things, especially the trio program, which we both agreed was just hit with a terrible blow just by regulatory action when some of the students who were applying, their applications were rejected simply because of spacing on a form. And that kind of regulatory control just cannot stand. That is just impossible.”

“If I am confirmed to be able to get in and assess programs, how they can have the best oversight possible, how we can really take the bureaucracy out of education,” she said.

McMahon, nominated to head the Education Department, is stepping into a role that Trump has suggested he is seeking to eliminate. Trump recently indicated that if McMahon is confirmed, he wants her to “put herself out of a job.”

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President Trump vowed on the campaign trail to eliminate the Dept of Education and bring the power back to the states (Getty Images)

Ahead of McMahon’s confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Trump reiterated his intention to close the department, calling for it to be shut down “immediately.”

“It’s a big con job,” Trump said. “They ranked the top countries in the world. We’re ranked No. 40, but we’re ranked No. 1 in one department: cost per pupil. So, we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we’re ranked No. 40.”

Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.

February 13, 2025
House Democrat leaves congressional DOGE caucus, saying Musk is ‘blowing things up’

Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore., said on Thursday that she is leaving the congressional Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Caucus due to Elon Musk’s cost-cutting measures in the executive branch.

Hoyle made the announcement via a statement and said her intentions on the caucus were to serve as a good steward for her constituents’ tax dollars and to make the government more streamlined and efficient.

However, she said Musk’s actions, which are separate from the congressional caucus, have made that impossible, and she claimed DOGE’s work is to find funds to give tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of working people.

USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40 BILLION AGENCY

“I joined to be a voice for working people and their interests. But it is impossible to fix the system when Elon Musk is actively breaking it, so I have made the decision to leave,” Hoyle wrote on X late Thursday.

Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore., said on Thursday that she is leaving the Congressional Department of Government Efficiency Caucus because Elon Musk’s role in the agency is “burning down the government and the law.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, left, Andrew Harnik/Getty Images, right.)

“It is impossible for us to do that important work when unelected billionaire Elon Musk and his lackeys [insist] on burning down the government—and the law—to line his own pockets and rip off Americans across the country who depend on government services to live with dignity,” she wrote in an accompanying statement.

The newly minted agency, a key promise of President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, is tasked with slashing government waste and providing increased transparency when it comes to government spending. It was created via executive order and is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months until July 4, 2026, carrying out its mission.

Hoyle said she was alarmed about Musk’s team accessing sensitive Department of Treasury payment systems. She also accused his team of using intimidation tactics to “terrorize the hard-working public servants” who deliver these services.

DOGE was created via executive order by President Donald Trump, and it is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months, until July 4, 2026, carrying out its mission. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

DOGE TARGETS MEDICARE AGENCY, LOOKING FOR FRAUD

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the DOGE from obtaining access to any payment record or payment system of records maintained within the Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service. On Wednesday, the Justice Department agreed in a proposed court order to limit access to the sensitive records to only two “special government employees” within DOGE, who will have read-only permission.

Hoyle said that if she thought that she, or Democrats or Republicans on the caucus had any influence, then she would stay.

“But, fundamentally, I don’t see how we can actually do this work when Elon Musk is blowing things up,” she told NewsNation Thursday. “It’s like trying to replace your roof when someone’s throwing dynamite through the window.

“So I’m leaving the DOGE Caucus, I will continue to do the work to find efficiencies, but right now I just don’t think it’s possible with what’s happening.”

DOGE has riled Democrats, particularly around USAID, and Hoyle’s announcement comes just days after DOGE targeted the agency, leading to the firing of 50 top officials and the organization being folded into the State Department. The actions came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, acting on Trump’s executive order, paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and USAID.

The 90-day pause has halted thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development and security programs worldwide and forced aid organizations to lay off hundreds of employees because they cannot make payroll.

Employees and supporters gather to protest outside the U.S. Agency for International Development headquarters on Feb. 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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DOGE has focused much of its initial work on canceling DEI programs, consulting contracts and lease terminations for federal buildings.

The agency wrote on Tuesday that it canceled 12 contracts with the Government Services Administration and the Department of Education, resulting in a total savings of about $30 million. It also canceled 12 underused leases for savings of $3 million. On Monday, DOGE said it canceled 36 contracts, leading to savings of about $165 million across six agencies.

DOGE posted on Jan. 28 that the group is saving the federal government around $1 billion per day, mostly by stopping the hiring of people into unnecessary positions, deletion of DEI and stopping improper payments to foreign organizations.

Fox News’ Eric Revell, Greg Norman, Anders Hagstrom, Greg Wehner, Chris Pandolfo, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.

You can send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.

February 7, 2025
LARRY KUDLOW: Congressional Republicans must not stop the Trump Tax Cuts

All of a sudden, nothing but bad news is coming out of the Republican Congress regarding tax cuts. Some people in the House are talking about a 5-year extension of the Trump Tax Cuts. The Senators are talking about 2, or even 3 budget bills that would put the tax cuts toward the back of the queue. This is bad economics and bad politics.

Are Republicans suffering from amnesia about the economy. Which was the number one issue in last November’s election. And there were 2 components to the economy: inflation and affordability. In other words, with Bidenflation going up 20%, real wages for middle- and lower-income blue-collar workers went down. Mr. Trump’s successful coalition of working-class voters was not based on race, gender, or left-wing culture. It was based on the paucity of income.

Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, discusses bringing back economic growth under President Donald Trump on ‘Kudlow.’

There are 2 ways to fatten middle-income wallets. Getting inflation down, which would lower energy costs, and less government spending and money printing, and cut their taxes. Supply-side policies are always political and economic winners. Working class voters could not afford to live in the Biden economy. But Republican economic policies must give plenty of elbow room to working folks so they can fatten their wallets and easily afford the Trump economy. And if the Republican hang-up is a bunch of failed economic models from government bean counters, like the CBO, the GOP should stand up and fight it.

Revenues after the Trump tax cuts in 2017 increased by $1.5 to $2 trillion. Even the CBO admits it was close to $2 trillion above their early estimates. And although it seems arcane and, in the woods, the GOP should be using Senator Mike Crapo’s policy baseline — which argues that making the popular tax cuts permanent have not, yet nor will in the future, cause a loss of revenues. So they don’t have to cut $4 to $5 trillion in spending right away. Yes, they should get spending down to Scott Bessent’s 3% of GDP deficits. And lower the debt to GDP ratio. But the Laffer Curve growth dividend from tax cuts will be huge.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addresses President Donald Trump’s economic and fiscal goals during his first interview on ‘Kudlow’ since joining the administration.

That’s what history shows. And there’s another reason why the GOP should make all the Trump tax cuts permanent: the President wants it.

He was elected on the tax cut promise among others. As White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said today, the tax priorities of Mr. Trump are very clear: make the 2017 Tax Cuts Permanent, no tax on tips, no tax on seniors, no tax on overtime pay, tax cuts for Made in America products, and eliminate special tax breaks for billionaires — including sports team owners. Or the carried interest loophole on investment. These are Presidential priorities. He won the election by a near landslide.

His working-class coalition of blacks, browns, Asians, young people, women, males, that coalition was based largely on an optimistic belief that Trump can rejuvenate the economy and unlimited access to climb the ladder of opportunity is what elected Mr. Trump. Republicans in the House and Senate must not stand in President Trump’s way.

February 6, 2025
Freshman GOP lawmaker targets ‘propaganda’ from top adversary in first bill of congressional career

FIRST ON FOX: Freshman GOP Congressman Abe Hamadeh has introduced his first piece of legislation as a lawmaker aimed at combatting the Chinese communist government’s influence in the halls of Congress.

Hamadeh, who was sworn in to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District in Congress last month, introduced a bill that would prohibit China Daily and other CCP-backed publications from House facilities and spoke to Fox News Digital about his reasoning for the move.

“The first day I came into my office, I looked and I had a bunch of newspapers on my desk from the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and included in it was The China Daily,” Hamadeh told Fox News Digital. “And, you know, I’m looking at it like, ‘Why do we get the China Daily?’ And after researching it, we discovered that this was a Chinese communist owned newspaper that’s a registered foreign agent.”

“And I just find it unacceptable that it’s being passed around the halls of Congress for free, using our internal mail system, using third parties to pass out the propaganda. So, honestly, it was my first welcome to Congress and that’s kind of why I think I honed in on it to be my first piece of legislation because I don’t think we should have foreign propaganda in the halls of Congress.”

BILL MAHER DECLARES CHINA ‘THE NEW ISLAM,’ SAYS LEFT CAN’T BE HONEST ABOUT THE COUNTRY’S THREAT

Abe Hamadeh introduced his first bill in Congress this week (Getty)

The legislation would call on the Chief Administrative Officer of the House to immediately cease the distribution of CCP state-run media material and restrict the spread of the materials on House email while still allowing members to maintain private access if they wish.

Hamadeh told Fox News Digital that the “reason why the Chinese are doing it is because they know that they can influence members of Congress, they can influence their staff.”

USPS SUSPENDS INBOUND PACKAGES FROM CHINA, HONG KONG POSTS

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 29th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, Nov. 19, 2022. (Ju Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)

“You see on Capitol Hill, it’s filled with a lot of young staffers who are energetic, but they may not know that this publication is owned by a foreign adversary of ours,” Hamadeh said. “

So, you know, the communist Chinese, it’s information warfare that they’re conducting on us,psychological operations and there’s a reason why they’re passing it out for free. They’re trying to influence the highest echelons of the United States government and it’s unacceptable.”

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Arizona Republican Rep. Abe Hamadeh with Kayla Mueller’s parents on Jan. 3, 2025. (Kayla Mueller Family)

China Daily has drawn the ire of conservatives over the last few years including criticism from then GO Sen. Marco Rubio, who is now Trump’s Secretary of State, who last year called on mainstream media CEOs to sever ties with the English-language newspaper owned by the CCP.

Rubio said China Daily’s goal is to “subvert U.S. news media by amplifying the goals and ambitions of the party.” The outlet has published several articles claiming the U.S.’s “anti-China” reporting on the persecution of Xinjiang Uyghurs is an “outright lie.”

“I want to get a vote on the record to see what other members of Congress, how they feel about a foreign publication like the China Daily being passed to their offices,” Hamadeh told Fox News Digital. “Nobody is saying that they don’t have to read the China Daily if they want to read it on their own privately, if they want to pay for a subscription, that’s fine. But to have it passed around through taxpayer dollars is unacceptable and to have them pass it around using our resources is unacceptable.”

Hamadeh told Fox News Digital he hopes to have bipartisan support for his bill to rid Congress of “foreign propaganda.”

“Remember what Joe Biden was so focused on, he got rid of the New York Post at the White House, one of the oldest newspapers in existence in the United States,” Hamadeh said. “He got rid of The New York Post. And yet here we are allowing the China Daily to freely operate in the halls of Congress. It’s unacceptable.”

“We understand that communist China is a threat. I understand it very well in Arizona. My district has all the Taiwanese companies moving into the district away from the sphere of China’s influence for a reason. So, you know, this is a start. There is obviously legislation out there that people are doing at a state level and even at the federal level. Some of them are trying to ban the ability for the communist Chinese to buy our farmlands and to buy land near our key assets like military bases. This is common sense, and that’s why I’m introducing it, because it should be an easy it should be an easy resolution to pass.”

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].

February 6, 2025
Trump’s crypto czar, Congressional lawmakers ‘golden age’ digital assets

DMA United CEO Marc Beckman reacts to President Donald Trump’s decision to weigh tighter curbs on Nvidia’s China sales.

Trump administration crypto czar David Sacks and chairs from multiple House and Senate committees held a press conference on Capitol Hill Tuesday to lay out how the White House and Congress plan to carry out President Donald Trump’s plans for America leading the world in the digital asset ecosystem.

Sacks said he looks forward to working with Congress in “creating a golden age in digital assets.”

Representative Glenn Thompson, a Republican from Pennsylvania, from left, Senator Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, David Sacks, White House Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Crypto czar, Representative French Hill, a Republican from Arkans (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Sacks was joined by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R,S.C.), Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R,Ark.), House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (R,Ark.), and House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson (R, Pa.), who laid out moves being made to carry out Trump’s executive order last week that seeks to clarify regulations in the crypto industry.

MOONPAY CEO: ‘CRYPTO IS THE FUTURE’

The four committees are forming a bicameral committee to lead on crypto regulation where they will prioritize stablecoin and market structure legislation.

Metaplanet director of Bitcoin strategy Dylan LeClair explains President Donald Trump’s executive orders boosting the viability of cryptocurrency in the United States on ‘Making Money.’

Committees plan to build from the “FIT21” bill for market structure legislation that was passed in the House Financial Services Committee last year, and will use Sen. Bill Hagerty’s (R, Tenn.) new stablecoin bill that dropped Thursday as a starting point for new legislation this Congress.

CRYPTO’S ‘NEXT FRONTIER’ IS IN EVERYDAY USE, TOKENIZATION: ROBINHOOD CEO VLAD TENEV

Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott said he plans to be “as aggressive as possible” to get the bills through the Senate in the first 100 days.

Stablecoin legislation is moving forward quickly, according Scott, who said Republicans have been working with Democratic sponsors on the bill and they plan to move on that first. Hill said the group plans to work on both market structure and stablecoin bills simultaneously on a bipartisan basis in the House.

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Sacks, who is also the White House’s artificial intelligence (AI) czar, confirmed that one of the first things the Presidential Working Group on Digital Assets formed by Trump’s EO is going to look at is the feasibility of a Bitcoin reserve, but noted the initiative is still in the early stages as some members of the working group have not yet been confirmed.

February 4, 2025
Congressional hearing to examine overregulation in California amid wildfire disaster

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust will hold a hearing next week addressing overregulation in California following the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, stating California’s “onerous regulatory regime” may have worsened the disaster, Fox News Digital has learned.

The “California Fires and the Consequences of Overregulation” hearing will examine the real impacts of regulatory policy on the prevention of natural disasters, particularly in the case of California’s wildfires, according to a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

It will also address how excessive regulation on insurance and permitting serves as a roadblock to those recovering from disasters.

Cal Fire reported more than 12,000 homes, businesses and schools were lost to the fires and more than 100,000 people have had to leave their homes.

KELSEY GRAMMER SAYS CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS ‘TOOK THEIR EYE OFF THE BALL’ IN WILDFIRES CATASTROPHE

Homes in Altadena, California, lay in ruins less than two weeks after the Eaton Fire devastated the area. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, described current disaster regulations as a “nightmare.”

“Democrat-run California’s excessive regulations make preventing and recovering from natural disasters a nightmare,” he said.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, will be looking into the handling of the California wildfires. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES: SECOND CALIFORNIA REAL ESTATE AGENT CHARGED WITH PRICE GOUGING VICTIMS

Jordan added that California needs a streamlined process, as suggested by President Donald Trump, to remove regulation and ensure citizens can rebuild and prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., said the wildfires were a preventable tragedy, and Congress must examine whether California’s “onerous regulatory regime” worsened the disaster.

Aftermath of fire in Pacific Palisades, California. (David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)

“For years, California’s liberal government has prioritized environmental activism over effective forest management and disaster mitigation. Meanwhile, the politicization of their state insurance regulator has driven insurers out of the state and forced taxpayers to foot the bill,” Fitzgerald said.

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The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust will hold a hearing to examine California overregulation after the deadly Los Angeles wildfires. (Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images | AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Witnesses will include Steve Hilton, founder of Golden Together; Steven Greenhut, resident senior fellow and western region director of state affairs for the R Street Institute; and Edward Ring, director of water and energy policy for the California Policy Center, according to the statement.

The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 6 at 10 a.m.

Alexandra Koch is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Prior to joining Fox News, Alexandra covered breaking news, crime, religion, and the military in the southeast.

January 30, 2025
Trump FCC chair targets NPR, PBS for investigation ahead of Congressional threats to defund

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched an investigation into media outlets PBS and National Public Radio (NPR) over member stations potentially airing “prohibited commercial advertisements,” according to a letter obtained by The New York Times.

“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” FCC chair Brendan Carr wrote, according to the Times. “In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements.”

The FCC allows businesses to support noncommercial radio and television stations — such as NPR, PBS or college radio stations — via on-air announcements known as underwriting sponsorships. The sponsorships, though similar to advertisements, face different FCC rules than typical TV or radio ads.

Carr sent the letters Wednesday to NPR CEO Katherine Maher and PBS CEO Paula Kerger, according to the Times. He has been a member of the FCC since 2017, and was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as the commission’s chair under his second administration.

TRUMP TAPS FCC MEMBER BRENDAN CARR TO LEAD AGENCY: ‘WARRIOR FOR FREE SPEECH’

Brendan Carr was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as the Federal Communications Commission chair Trump’s second administration. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Carr continued in his letter that he will alert Congress to the investigation, noting that lawmakers already are weighing whether NPR and PBS should receive taxpayer funds.

“In particular, Congress is actively considering whether to stop requiring taxpayers to subsidize NPR and PBS programming,” he wrote, according to the Times.

“To the extent that these taxpayer dollars are being used to support a for profit endeavor or an entity that is airing commercial advertisements, then that would further undermine any case for continuing to fund NPR and PBS with taxpayer dollars,” he continued.

Fox News Digital reached out to the FCC regarding the letter and the Times’ report, but did not immediately receive a response.

GOP SENATOR EYES LEGISLATION TO DEFUND ‘PROPAGANDIST’ NPR AFTER SUSPENSION OF WHISTLEBLOWER

NPR chief Maher said in response to the letter that NPR’s sponsorship practices “complies with federal regulations.”

“NPR programming and underwriting messaging complies with federal regulations, including the FCC guidelines on underwriting messages for noncommercial educational broadcasters, and Member stations are expected to be in compliance as well,” Maher said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Thursday.

“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” FCC chair Brendan Carr recently wrote, according to The New York Times. (Getty Images)

TRUMP FCC CHAIR PICK STRESSES NEED TO ‘RESTORE’ FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS

“We are confident any review of our programming and underwriting practices will confirm NPR’s adherence to these rules,” Maher said. “We have worked for decades with the FCC in support of noncommercial educational broadcasters who provide essential information, educational programming, and emergency alerts to local communities across the United States.”

PBS told Times it is proud of its “noncommercial educational programming,” and worked “diligently to comply with the F.C.C.’s underwriting regulations.”

NPR and PBS are both public broadcasting organizations, and both are bracing to potentially lose public funding under the Trump administration.

“NO MORE FUNDING FOR NPR, A TOTAL SCAM!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social in April 2024, potentially previewing their fate under his second administration. “THEY ARE A LIBERAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE. NOT ONE DOLLAR!!!”

Republican members of Congress also have introduced bills that would defund the public broadcasting organizations, such as Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy and Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry introducing the No Propaganda Act in December 2024.

“The American Taxpayer is footing the bill for a woke media corporation that pretends to be impartial while pushing Chinese propaganda,” Perry said when introducing the legislation. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting “cannot be allowed to keep using your hard-earned tax dollars to push a biased and political agenda that goes against what’s best for Americans.”

NPR and PBS are both public broadcasting organizations, and both are bracing to potentially lose public funding under the Trump administration. (Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Carr’s name recognition grew large right ahead of the Nov. 5, 2024, election, when he lambasted NBC’s decision to host former Vice President Kamala Harris on “Saturday Night Live” in the final episode ahead of Election Day, but did not offer equal time to Trump or other candidates in the presidential cycle.

TRUMP’S CHOICE FOR FCC CHAIRMAN SAYS AGENCY ‘WILL END ITS PROMOTION OF DEI’ NEXT YEAR

The FCC’s equal-time rule was established in 1934, and requires radio and television broadcast stations to provide the same amount of time for competing political candidates. There are exceptions to the rule, such as newscasts, documentaries and political debates.

Brendan Carr wrote that he will alert Congress to the investigation, noting that lawmakers already are weighing whether NPR and PBS should receive taxpayer funds. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“NBC has structured this in a way that’s plainly designed to evade the FCC’s rules. We’re talking 50 hours before Election Day starts, without any notice to other candidates, as far as I can tell,” Carr told Fox News Digital at the time. “And after previously coming out and saying they weren’t going to do this precisely because they did not believe that they could do this consistent with election laws and the FCC’s equal time rule.”

NBC ultimately filed an equal time notice amid outrage over Harris’ appearance.

KAMALA HARRIS APPEARS ON ‘SNL’ IN FINAL EPISODE BEFORE ELECTION

President Donald Trump, pictured here, appointed Brendan Carr to lead the FCC shortly after his November 2024 election win, with Carr taking the helm of the commission in January. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

Trump appointed Carr to lead the FCC shortly after his November 2024 election win, with Carr taking the helm of the commission in January. Carr was first nominated to the commission by Trump during his first administration, and served as the senior Republican member of the FCC until his appointment as chair.

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“Commissioner Carr is a warrior for Free Speech, and has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans’ Freedoms, and held back our Economy,” Trump said in a statement about the appointment. “He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America’s Job Creators and Innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America.”

January 30, 2025
DC plane crash: Top GOP lawmaker demands congressional hearing

EXCLUSIVE: The top Republican on the House Transportation Committee’s subcommittee on aviation is calling for a congressional hearing into the deadly collision between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter in Washington, D.C.

“We say we are the gold standard, we just need to continue to maintain that level,” Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who chairs the subcommittee, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“I just want to sit down with all of them and, when the [National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)] does its report – make sure that it’s very accurate, it’s factual, and that they come up with some recommendations – and then we’ll have to see if we need to change direction or change course based upon those recommendations. But we don’t know yet.”

Nehls praised Transportation Committee Chairman Sam Graves, noting his background as a pilot, and said he would be asking the Missouri Republican to convene meetings with the affected parties and those investigating the incident. Nehls suggested potential closed-door meetings to enable more candid discussions but said a public hearing would also be in order.

DC PLANE CRASH INVESTIGATORS TO REVIEW COMMUNICATION BETWEEN 2 AIRCRAFT: SENATOR

Rep. Troy Nehls, aviation subcommittee chair, is monitoring the situation after an American Airlines plane collided with a military helicopter over the Potomac River. (Getty Images)

“We have to find out the reason for the crash and then come up with, you know, recommendations to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “We don’t need to be sitting on this. I don’t want to hear, ‘It’s going to take 18 months.’ I don’t want to hear that.”

And it appears federal investigators are on that same page.

NTSB officials said they hope to have a preliminary report out in about 30 days.

“I think that would be fair,” Nehls said. “But that shouldn’t stop Congress looking into this and doing what we can to help. I think President Trump… expects it, and he has a right to expect it from us, to make sure that we keep our aviation industry the standard for the world.”

And while he is hoping for quick results, Nehls emphatically cautioned against any early speculation about who or what is to blame for the tragedy.

RECOVERY EFFORTS UNDERWAY AFTER AMERICAN AIRLINES JET, MILITARY HELICOPTER COLLIDE MIDAIR NEAR DC

FBI agents stand near debris after American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter while approaching Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on Jan. 30, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

“Everybody wants to speculate as to how did this happen, why this happened. Whose fault is that? Is it the helicopter? Was it the airplane?” Nehls said.

“I think that is irresponsible. I think you just need to give it time for the NTSB to investigate, you know, conduct a very thorough investigation.”

Finger-pointing and speculation have already run rampant, however. Some have blamed Congress for authorizing too many new airline contracts at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which is closer to the U.S. Capitol than the much larger Washington-Dulles International Airport.

Others, primarily on the right, have argued that diversity initiatives by Democratic administrations helped lead to the tragedy.

“I think it’s too early for all of that,” Nehls said when asked about both.

No evidence has come out to support any conclusion or cause of the crash so far.

Crews retrieve wreckage of American Airlines Flight 5342 in the Potomac River. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)

Nehls spoke with Fox News Digital the day after a Black Hawk helicopter carrying three service members crashed into a passenger plane heading from Wichita, Kansas, which was moments away from landing at Reagan National Airport.

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Both aircraft were seen plummeting into the Potomac River between Washington and neighboring Arlington, Virginia, where the airport is located.

U.S. officials have said there are no survivors, and recovery efforts are still underway.

Fox News Digital reached out to the House Transportation Committee for comment.

American Airlines has said 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the plane, and the airline encouraged any loved ones looking for information to call the numbers on its site.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

January 30, 2025