FCC Launches Regulatory Rollback Effort: ‘Delete, Delete, Delete’

The FCC chair says the initiative seeks to repeal outdated rules hindering investment, aligning with the Trump administration’s deregulation agenda.

Brendan Carr, commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, speaks at the CPAC convention in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 29, 2020. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has unveiled a sweeping regulatory rollback initiative that opens every single existing FCC rule, regulation, or guidance document to potential revision or outright elimination.

Dubbed “In re: Delete, Delete, Delete,” Carr said in a March 12 announcement, the effort aims to streamline the regulatory process, eliminate bureaucratic barriers, and align with the Trump administration’s broader push to reduce government overreach and boost economic opportunities.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the Administration is unleashing a new wave of economic opportunity by ending the regulatory onslaught from Washington,” Carr said. “For too long, administrative agencies have added new regulatory requirements in excess of their authority or kept lawful regulations in place long after their shelf life had expired. This only creates headwinds and slows down our country’s innovators, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.”

The initiative follows two executive orders Trump issued earlier this year. One, called “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation,” mandates that for every new regulation issued, at least 10 existing regulations must be slated for elimination. The second, entitled “Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the Department of Government Efficiency Deregulatory Initiative,” directs agencies to identify regulations that impose significant costs on the private sector without providing proportionate public benefits.

Carr said the agency is committed to carrying out Trump’s directives by eliminating outdated rules that hinder investment, innovation, and competition in the communications sector.

As part of the effort, the agency is soliciting public input on which regulations should be modified or repealed, as detailed in a public notice. The FCC will evaluate regulations based on factors such as their economic burden, impact on small businesses, and whether they reflect modern technological and market realities.

The “Delete, Delete, Delete” initiative also reflects Carr’s broader philosophy of deregulation. In a section of the Project 2025 policy paper published in 2023 by The Heritage Foundation, he wrote that the FCC must modernize to keep pace with technological change.

“These rapidly evolving market conditions counsel in favor of eliminating many of the heavy-handed FCC regulations that were adopted in an era when every technology operated in a silo,” he wrote. Carr highlighted outdated media ownership rules and universal service requirements that limit investment and competition.

“Ultimately, FCC reliance on competition and innovation is vital if the agency is to deliver optimal outcomes for the American public,” he wrote. He called for the agency to engage in a “serious top-to-bottom review of its regulations and take steps to rescind any that are overly cumbersome or outdated.”

Meanwhile, the White House said on March 6 that the Trump administration’s deregulatory focus has already saved Americans over $180 billion, or $2,100 per family of four.