Just days after Democrats swept the midterm elections, Congress is ramping up its investigations of the Federal Communications Commission.
On Thursday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to Chairman Brendan Carr, notifying him that all all records pertaining to an ongoing inquiry by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations minority be readily accessible by the end of November.
Blumenthal was referring to an inquiry he and fellow Democrats in the committee instigated more than a year ago over FCC actions that Blumenthal said “erode and undermine freedom of speech and freedom of the press and bear on the laws governing media consolidation.”
In March 2025, the senator opened an inquiry into what he termed the FCC’s “abuse of power, including dubious investigations and misrepresentations of law to silence free speech.” The Connecticut senator said the chairman has never responded to his request for records applicable to these concerns, despite sending three letters over the past 18 months — in March 2025, July 2025 and February 2026.
“The subcommittee expects you to carefully review and follow the enclosed production procedures to ensure that all records produced can be accessed and reviewed in a timely manner,” Blumenthal wrote. “Please begin producing responsive records by Nov. 30, with additional records to follow on a schedule agreed upon in advance by subcommittee staff.”
Blumenthal added that “failure to voluntarily produce the requested records and information by Jan. 4 will leave the Subcommittee with no choice but to consider alternative measures to obtain compliance.”
The letter was one of several the senator sent this week; other investigations are planned over cryptocurrency abuse, immigration enforcement and donations by Big Tech companies to the White House ballroom.
This story initially ran in TV Tech, sister brand to Radio World.
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