Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr on Thursday defended his claim that the FCC is not an independent agency, asserting that Congress never gave FCC commissioners protection from being removed by the president at will.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr faced Senate questioning Wednesday for the first time since he pressured broadcasters to take ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air, a stance that drew bipartisan criticism and raised concerns about government interference in the media.

The Federal Communications Commission chairman faced questioning over the agency’s role in pressuring media companies and its independence from the president.

Texas, grilled Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday over his push for broadcasters to take ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel off the air.

Chair Brendan Carr suggested on Wednesday that the agency is not independent from President Trump’s administration after being pressed by senators on

Committee member Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, asked about Carr’s efforts to stem a new form of payola, what she called “show-ola” in which broadcast stations allegedly pressure artists to play their station events in exchange for airplay.

Brendan Carr appear before the Senate Commerce committee on Wednesday to discuss his push for broadcasters to take ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel off the air.

WASHINGTON (AP) — ABC took comic Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show off the air indefinitely Wednesday, just hours after Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr called his comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination “truly sick.”