Carr Thinks Its His Job to Gut Legacy Media

Federal Communication Commission Chair Brendan Carr celebrated multiple attacks on the media as political victories for President Trump during a forum at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.

Carr has hardly been subtle about what he appears to believe his role is in the Trump administration: threatening and sidelining those in the media who broadcast commentary or interview politicians who speak counter to the Trump administration’s agenda. Broadcasting networks have in turn caved to his threats against talkshow hosts who interview political candidates Trump doesn’t like (CBS shrunk away from airing an interview with James Talarico who is running for Senate in Texas after Carr went after The View for the same offense ) or who spoke about Charlie Kirk in a way the administration didn’t like after his death (ABC suspended Jimmy Fallon last year under pressure from Carr).

More recently, he’s threatened to revoke broadcasting licenses for news outlets that don’t cover Trump’s war in Iran correctly (even though that is not something he can do in any sweeping way).

He’s loudly emerged as one of the Trump II administration figures who is most willing to use his post to carry out Trump’s retribution agenda, either in tangible ways like getting legacy late night hosts suspended or canceled or by issuing vague threats that might not be rooted in any actual authority that he has at the FCC. For example, when he suggested that news outlets might run into trouble renewing their broadcasting licenses for not doing Trump Speak about the war in Iran, the only Democratic commissioner at the FCC put out a statement saying the FCC doesn’t actually have regulatory power over national news organizations — its licensing authority applies to local TV stations that are owned by ABC, CBS, Fox, the CW Network and NBC.

During the CPAC appearance over the weekend, Carr made it clear that he believes it is his job to punish the media companies, journalists and comedians he sees as Trump’s political enemies, while praising Trump’s supposed success in taking down the “fake news media.”

“When Donald Trump ran for office, he ran directly at the fake news media,” Carr said. “So many other politicians and Americans just gave way to legacy media. They let the legacy media set the narrative. And President Trump smashed the facade.”

“He said, ‘You don’t get to decide what we say, what we think, how we’re going to vote inside the voting booth,” Carr continued. “President Trump took on the fake news media. And President Trump is winning. Look at the results so far. PBS defunded. NPR, defunded. Joy Reid, gone from MSNBC. Sleepy-eyes Chuck Todd, gone. Jim Acosta, gone. John Dickerson, gone. Stephen Colbert is leaving, CBS is under new ownership, and soon enough, CNN is gonna have new ownership as well.”

“So, we’re not at the point yet where we’re raising the ‘mission accomplished’ flag,” he continued. “But President Trump is taking on the fake news media, and President Trump is winning.”

He may well have been speaking to an audience of one, but the assertion about his responsibilities as FCC chair resonated well with the crowd gathered for the convention in Texas.

— Nicole LaFond

Trump’s Labor Dept Wants to Make Your Retirement Riskier

The Department of Labor on Monday proposed a rule change that would make it easier for 401k fund managers to invest in alternative — and riskier — assets, including private credit funds, some of which have much higher fees than traditional funds and withdrawal caps that limit investors’ access to their own money. 

The proposed regulation would also encourage retirement account managers to invest individuals’ contributions into cryptocurrencies by “supplement[ing] and expand[ing]” the deference given to retirement money managers in the context of specific investments. It accomplishes this by also defining the alternative assets as protected under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to make fiduciaries less susceptible to litigation. Right now, 401(k) fund managers can legally invest in alternative assets but often don’t for fear of being sued by angry retirees.

Monday’s announcement comes after the Trump administration in May rescinded a Biden-era rule that warned 401(k) asset managers about investing in crypto. The proposal draws on an August 2025 executive order from Trump calling on the DOL to deregulate retirement contribution investment protocol.

Some built-in risks of alternative assets include industry opacity (private credit invests in non-publicly traded businesses with far fewer disclosure requirements), less predictable returns, less regulation, and potentially restricted access to your own funds. And right now, some financial experts are issuing nascent warnings that the industry could be entering a Global Financial Crisis of ‘08 era, at worst, or, at least, entering a slowdown. The $1.6 trillion U.S. private credit sector has recently indicated it might be short on cash, and as banks have increasingly intertwined themselves with the less regulated industry, the entire financial system could become exposed to more risk, experts have said.

Pro-alternative investment voices say exposing private citizens to the industry helps diversify retirement accounts and allows them to access a lucrative asset class leveraged by billion-dollar corporations. But as Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig points out, individuals are not billion-dollar entities. 

“Such institutions are likely to be perpetual; you won’t be,” Zweig wrote in the Journal column about the issue.

In a comment to the New York Times, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) drew the line between the Trump administration’s pro-billionaire agenda built on the backs of more everyday Americans.

“This is a moment to take immediate action to tighten the reins on Wall Street,” Warren told the Times, “but the Trump administration’s approach is to push these risky assets into people’s retirement accounts.”

— Layla A. Jones

Trump Trying to Get Anti-Trans Efforts Back in the News

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota Education Department and a state group that oversees school athletics on Monday, claiming a violation of girls’ civil rights because the state has refused to abide by Trump’s ban on trans students playing girls’ sports. Details from the New York Times:

The Justice Department is asking the Federal District Court in Minnesota to prevent the state from allowing transgender students to compete in athletic competitions for girls and to force schools to maintain separate locker rooms and bathrooms based on sex, with no exceptions for gender identity.

The Trump administration has been attacking Minnesota from multiple angles for months, most notably through its violent immigration operation in the state, which grew out of its fixation on years-long investigations into social services fraud there. It is now using the pretense of fraud to withhold federal funding from the state.

But, big picture, the midterms are approaching and public opinion on many aspects of Trump’s agenda, including his new war with Iran, is at an all time low. The war has fractured his MAGA base of supporters, crucially. Trump campaigned on anti-trans rhetoric and perhaps sees the issue as one that riles up that same base better than most topics. In addition to Monday’s lawsuit focused on banning trans girls from playing girls sports, Trump has also recently been trying to get Republicans in Congress to stuff anti-trans provisions into the SAVE Act, an unrelated voter suppression bill that he also wants passed before the midterms.

— Nicole LaFond

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