FCC Chair Carr Opens Investigation of DEI Efforts at Comcast, NBCU

WASHINGTON—Following a widespread crackdown on DEI programs at Federal government agencies by the Trump Administration, the Federal Communications Commission Chair Branden Carr is now arguing that the FCC has the authority to end DEI programs at any entity the Commission regulates and has asked the Enforcement Bureau to launch an investigation into DEI programs at Comcast and NBCUniversal.

In a letter to Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, Carr called DEI efforts an “invidious” form of discrimination and contended that “the Communications Act and Commission rules prohibit regulated entities—like Comcast and NBCUniversal—from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, or gender. Indeed, the FCC’s longstanding Equal Employment Opportunity or EEO rules set forth specific requirements that both Comcast and NBCUniversal must adhere to.”

In what seems to be an emerging practice at the agency, the FCC did not immediately make the documents easily findable/available on its public website. Instead, Carr posted the letter and details about the investigation on X.

In the letter to Comcast CEO and chairman Brian Roberts, Carr referenced President’s Trump’s executive orders banning DEI efforts at federal agencies.

“At my direction, the FCC has already taken action to end its own promotion of DEI,” he wrote. “As a next step, the FCC will be taking fresh action to ensure that every entity the FCC regulates complies with the civil rights protections enshrined in the Communications Act and the agency’s EEO rules, including by shutting down any programs that promote invidious forms of DEI discrimination."

Carr added that "I am starting this broader effort with Comcast and NBCUniversal for two reasons. First, as noted above, there is substantial evidence that your companies are still engaging in the promotion of DEI. Second, your companies cover a range of sectors regulated by the FCC—from cable to high-speed Internet and from broadcast TV stations to MVNO wireless offerings. Therefore, I expect that this investigation into Comcast and its NBCUniversal operations will aid the Commission’s broader efforts to root out invidious forms of DEI discrimination across all of the sectors the FCC regulates.”

“As Chairman of the FCC, it is important to me that the entities the Commission regulates fully adhere to the FCC’s rules and regulations,” he continued. “In order to aid the FCC’s investigation into these matters, please provide the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau with an accounting of Comcast’s and NBCUniversal’s DEI initiatives, preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities— including DEI activities that are ongoing but may be operating today under different labels. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau will be following up with more specifics.”

The Trump administration’s move to ban DEI efforts, has already pushed several media companies to end their DEI programs. Both Disney and PBS have ended those programs.

In response to Carr's letter, FCC commissioner Geoffrey Starks issued a statement calling it outside the FCC's authority.

"Then-Commissioner Carr blasted the prior administration for acting in a way that ‘gives the FCC a nearly limitless power to veto private sector decisions' [in 2023]" Starks wrote. "From what I know, this enforcement action is out of our lane and out of our reach. I have asked for a briefing to understand the Enforcement Bureau’s theory of the case, the authority relied upon, and any prior precedent. This action gives me grave concern.”