Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized Verizon for giving in to Republican Chairman Brendan Carr's demands. "This shameful," she wrote on X. "Capitulation breeds capitulation."

After President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January eliminating DEI programs at federal agencies, FCC chair Brendan Carr ended those programs at the FCC and has said he will make eliminating DEI programs part of the approval process for mergers. Carr has also launched investigations into DEI practices at Disney and Comcast.

Verizon Communications Inc. won Federal Communications Commission approval for its $9.6-billion acquisition of Frontier Communications Parent Inc. after agreeing to agency demands to pare back diversity initiatives in line with President Donald Trump’s policies.