In a recent development, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Carr has accused the Biden administration of political bias following the FCC's decision to withdraw a substantial $885 million award from Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Musk and his companies have been under scrutiny from multiple investigations initiated by President Biden's administration, particularly since Musk's acquisition of the social media platform Twitter, now known as X, in October 2022.
Commissioner Carr, in a statement dissenting from the decision, alleged that the FCC's refusal of the award to SpaceX's Starlink, which was intended to provide high-speed broadband internet service to over 640,000 homes and businesses in rural areas, is consistent with the Biden administration's "harassment" of Musk.
Carr wrote, "Today's decision certainly fits the Biden Administration's pattern of regulatory harassment. Indeed, the Commission's decision today to revoke a 2020 award of $885 million to Elon Musk's Starlinkan award that Starlink secured after agreeing to provide high-speed Internet service to over 640,000 rural homes and businesses across 35 statesis a decision that cannot be explained by any objective application of law, facts, or policy."
Following Musk's acquisition of X, President Biden suggested that Musk's relationships with foreign governments warranted investigation. "I think that Elon Musk's cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at, whether or not he is doing anything inappropriate, I'm not suggesting that," Biden said in November 2022. "I'm suggesting that [its] worth being looked at that's all I'll say."
Carr interpreted this statement as a signal for government agencies to target Musk. In response to the FCC's decision, Musk expressed his disbelief on social media, posting, "Doesn't make sense. Starlink is the only company actually solving rural broadband at scale!"
The FCC justified its decision by stating that Starlink had failed to demonstrate its ability to meet the requirements of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) initiative, which aimed to provide services to hundreds of thousands of homes in 35 states. Carr alleged that the FCC has not replaced Starlink's bid with any other companies to meet the requirements.
The FCC had previously denied Starlink's award in August 2022, citing the company's failure to adequately demonstrate its ability to meet the program's requirements. Despite Starlink's appeal for a review of the decision, the FCC reaffirmed its stance based on a standard that, according to Carr, has never been used before.
FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel defended the decision, telling Reuters, "The FCC followed a careful legal, technical and policy review to determine that this applicant had failed to meet its burden."
While Carr and fellow Republican Commissioner Nathan Simington dissented, the three Democratic commissioners unanimously voted to rescind the grant.
SpaceX Vice President of Legal Christopher Cardaci expressed his disappointment in a letter to the FCC, stating, "Starlink is arguably the only viable option to immediately connect many of the Americans who live and work in the rural and remote areas of the country where high-speed, low-latency internet has been unreliable, unaffordable, or completely unavailable, the very people RDOF was supposed to connect."
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