Carr Opposes Latest Effort to Weaponize the Government Against Elon Musk
Calls on FCC to Dismiss Request Immediately

WASHINGTON, DC, April 24, 2024—FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr issued the following statement:

This morning, an organization called the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America submitted a filing with the FCC asking the agency to use its official powers to go after Elon Musk, based on their view that he is not doing enough to help Ukraine.  Their filing asks the FCC to require Musk to step down from Starlink, to stop processing Starlink applications altogether, and ultimately to revoke SpaceX’s FCC licenses.  Their submission is chock full of sweeping and unmoored allegations about “illegal meddling in U.S. foreign policy” in Ukraine and complaints about the ways in which Starlink connectivity has been provided within Ukraine.

Their submission is both procedurally improper and substantively meritless.  Indeed, their filing repeatedly invokes laws and rules that have no application here.  But this is not surprising.  After all, activists do not want the government to apply the law to Elon Musk, they want the government to break the law by weaponizing it against him.

Plainly, this filing should have never left the drafts folder.  But the most concerning element is that this is part of a clear and repeating pattern of regulatory harassment that accelerated the moment Elon Musk stood up for free speech.  Since then, we have seen a cavalcade of regulatory agencies go after him—including in the wake of President Biden suggesting that they had the greenlight to do so.

The FCC must make clear that this agency will no longer participate in these efforts.  The FCC should dismiss this filing with prejudice, lest the agency’s silence invite even more attempts just like it.


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Office of Commissioner Brendan Carr
www.fcc.gov/about/leadership/brendan-carr
Media Contact:  
Greg.Watson@fcc.gov