The U.S. Federal Communications Commission could block mergers and acquisitions between companies that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr told Bloomberg on Friday. “Any businesses that are looking for FCC approval, I would encourage them to get busy ending any sort of their invidious forms of DEI discrimination,” Carr said, naming Paramount’s proposed merger with Skydance, Verizon’s proposed acquisition of Frontier, and T-Mobile’s proposed acquisition of USCellular. He said DEI policies go against the FCC’s responsibility to serve the public interest. “We can only under the statute move forward and approve a transaction if we find that doing so serves the public interest,” Carr said. “If there’s businesses out there that are still promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination, I really don’t see a path forward where the FCC could reach the conclusion that approving the transaction is going to be in the public interest.” President Donald Trump has signed several executive orders since taking office aimed at ending DEI initiatives at federal agencies and threatened to remove federal funding from schools and universities with DEI policies.
