Washington DC - Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission under President Donald Trump, recently defended his aggressive leadership during a contentious Senate hearing.

During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday, Democratic members of the committee pressed Carr over his agency's efforts to punish broadcasters for producing content that is unfavorable to President Trump.

Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts pressed Carr on whether he regretted threatening Disney to punish comedian Jimmy Kimmel, as he told the company at the time, "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Markey then accused Carr of "weaponizing the public interest standard," making "mafia threats," and said his agency is now the "Federal Censorship Commission."

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In response, Carr argued, "If broadcasters understand, perhaps for the first time in years, that they're going to be held accountable to the public interest, to the broadcast hoax rule, to the news distortion policy, I think that's a good thing."

Several senators grew frustrated as Carr refused to directly answer their questions. In one awkward exchange, Senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico asked repeatedly whether the FCC is an independent organization, which its website says it is. When Carr finally said it is not independent, he then added that the website is "possibly" lying.

Throughout the hearing, Carr regularly brought up "weaponization" of his agency under Trump's Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.

Senator Amy Klobuchar responded, "Know what? Joe Biden is no longer president, you are head of the FCC, Trump is president, and I'm trying to deal with this right now."

Since Trump appointed Carr in January, he has used the role to aggressively go after networks, broadcasters, and media figures critical of the president and conservative ideals by issuing threats, launching investigations, applying pressure on companies, and filing legal actions.

But Democrats are not alone in criticizing Carr for overstepping with his leadership. During the hearing, Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who has been consistently critical of Carr, argued, "We cannot have the government arbitrating truth or opinion."

"Government officials threatening adverse consequences for disfavored content is an unconstitutional coercion that chills protected speech," Cruz added.