(Adds comments by Trump, details, paragraphs 7-8 and 13, changes

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FCC website changed after questioning on agency's

independence

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Senator Lujan challenges FCC's independence claim

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Trump's executive order restricts FCC's regulatory process

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The Federal

Communications Commission on Wednesday deleted a longstanding

reference to the agency's independence just minutes after a

Democratic senator questioned the agency's Republican head on

the telecom regulator's authority.

Senator Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico asked FCC Chair Brendan

Carr if the commission was an independent agency and after

several attempts Carr said it was not.

"On your website, it just simply says the FCC is

independent. This isn't a trick question, OK?" Lujan said. "Is

your website wrong? Is your website lying?" Lujan read the

language from the site that said the FCC is an independent U.S.

government agency overseen by Congress.

"The FCC is not an independent agency, formally speaking," Carr

said, saying President Donald Trump could remove commissioners

without cause.

Shortly after that exchange, the language on the website was

changed. An FCC spokesperson said "with the change in

Administration earlier this year, the FCC's website and

materials required updating. That work continues to ensure that

they reflect the positions of the agency's new leadership."

Congress and the FCC for decades have insisted the

five-member FCC is independent and criticized prior White House

officials for seeking to tell the agency what to do. The

commission traditionally is divided 3-2 between the political

parties.

Trump on Wednesday stepped up his ongoing attacks against major

U.S. broadcast networks for news content he disliked, saying

Comcast ( CMCSA )-owned NBC and Walt Disney ( DIS )-owned ABC

should be forced to pay significant money for the public

airwaves "and should not be allowed to get away with this any

longer!" He has repeatedly pressed Carr to take action against

broadcast networks.

Trump has not named any Democratic nominees to commissions

since taking office and two seats remain open, Senator Maria

Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, said.

Trump in February issued an executive order requiring

agencies including the FCC to submit proposed regulations to the

White House for review before voting on them.

Senator Andy Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, criticized

Carr and noted he had previously touted the independence of the

agency before Congress. "Trump is not your boss," Kim said.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat, criticized the

move, saying, "no edit to a website can erase the longstanding

congressional intent to create a multi-party, independent

regulatory agency like the FCC that is accountable to Congress

and the American people, not the whims of the White House."

Trump has repeatedly fired Democratic members of boards and

commissions that Congress said were supposed to be independent.

Earlier this month, U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled they

will uphold the legality of Trump's firing of a Federal Trade

Commission member and give a historic boost to presidential

power. The Justice Department urged the court to overturn a 1935

case that has constrained presidential power by protecting the

heads of independent agencies from removal.