Republican FCC Commissioner Won't Stand in Way of Musk Twitter Buy

A Republican serving on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has asserted that the agency has "no authority" to grant requests to block Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr on Wednesday rejected a statement issued the previous day by the Open Markets Institute, a nonprofit group that says it is dedicated to exposing "the dangers of monopolization." The group suggested that the FCC, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had "ample authority" to block Musk's acquisition.

"The FCC has no authority to block Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, and to suggest otherwise is absurd," Carr said in a statement. "I would welcome the full FCC making it clear that we will not entertain these types of frivolous arguments."