Independent Agency Rules — Week of Sep 15, 2025

This week, two episodes raised questions about whether independent federal agencies are being used for political purposes or having their independence curtailed.

On September 17, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr publicly threatened ABC and Disney over Jimmy Kimmel's political comedy, telling them "we can do this the easy way or the hard way"—a reference to the FCC's power over broadcast licenses. According to a Senate resolution condemning the threats, ABC's largest affiliate group pulled Kimmel's show and the network suspended him shortly after. This might matter because the FCC is supposed to regulate broadcasting based on law, not political viewpoint—and when a regulator invokes licensing power in response to a comedian's political jokes, it could affect the independence of broadcast media, which the First Amendment exists to protect.

Separately, both the House and Senate introduced resolutions to overturn an HHS rule about following the Administrative Procedure Act—the basic law governing how agencies make rules. Congress is essentially voting to undo the agency's commitment to following standard rulemaking procedures, which could weaken the safeguards that help keep health policy grounded in evidence and public input rather than politics.

Alternative explanations to consider: On the FCC episode, it's worth noting that FCC leaders have long made public comments about broadcast content without taking formal action—Carr may have been making a political statement, not initiating enforcement, and ABC's decisions may have been driven by business calculations rather than genuine regulatory fear. It's also possible that Carr's comments were taken out of context or that the affiliate's programming decision was based on internal policy rather than external pressure. The FCC might argue that its chairman's remarks fell within normal public commentary about broadcast standards. These are plausible alternatives, though the specific invocation of regulatory power and the swift corporate response suggest the threat may have carried significant weight. On the HHS resolutions, the rule's title may not reflect its actual content—it's possible the rule constrained the agency in ways that HHS itself considered problematic, and Congress is restoring normal operations rather than undermining procedure. These resolutions are also early-stage and may never pass.

Limitations: This analysis is AI-generated and based on publicly available government documents. The full text of the HHS rule was not available for review. The connection between the FCC chairman's statements and ABC's actions comes from a Senate resolution introduced by opposition senators and has not been independently verified here. No public statements from the FCC or HHS explaining their positions were available in the reviewed materials.