With Republicans poised to gain a majority at the Federal Communications Commission, Commissioner Nathan Simington has made it clear that broadcast regulations are on the chopping block. Speaking with The Daily Caller News Foundation, Simington described long-standing media policies as “profane cows” that the GOP is ready to eliminate under Chairman Brendan Carr’s aggressive deregulatory agenda dubbed “Delete, Delete, Delete.”
The shift in FCC control is expected after Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks steps down before the Commission’s June open meeting, giving Republicans a 2–1 advantage. Simington argued that many broadcast rules are outdated and no longer reflect today’s media environment, calling them relics from the Truman and Nixon eras. “They’re from an era when broadcast media was the only form of telecom media that most people had access to,” he said. With streaming services surpassing cable subscriptions in 2023, Simington believes the original justifications for heavy regulation no longer apply.
Simington first hinted at this deregulatory push during the 2025 NAB State Leadership Conference in March. He emphasized that unless a rule is directly mandated by Congress or explicitly supported by the President, it should be considered for removal. “We should consider deleting, deleting, deleting it,” he said, reinforcing his alignment with Carr’s initiative.
Not everyone is supportive of this aggressive shift. Commissioner Anna Gomez, who will soon become the lone Democrat on the FCC, has voiced concerns about what she sees as the agency’s increasing politicization. She continues her First Amendment Tour on May 28 with a stop in Los Angeles at California State University. The event, titled “Public Interest in Free Speech,” aims to raise awareness about what she calls the federal government’s creeping influence on press freedom and editorial independence.
Gomez launched the tour earlier this year as a response to growing fears of censorship under the current administration. Her warnings have become more urgent following Donald Trump’s return to the White House. “This effort is about defending the First Amendment from those who use it as a weapon against the very freedoms it protects,” she said. “We must continue to stand up for free expression and push back against the Administration’s growing campaign of censorship and control.”
With the FCC’s future direction shifting sharply, the balance between deregulation and public interest is increasingly under scrutiny.