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Studies show a majority of Americans believe free speech is under attack by the Trump administration and a government official charged with safeguarding free expression is amplifying the message on a nationwide tour.

Anna Gomez, an FCC commissioner, the only Democrat on the five member board and the first Latina in more than 20 years to serve on the commission, has been on a monthslong speaking tour. After Congress voted to defund public media, Gomez declared the FCC had ceded its independence to the Trump administration and allowed itself to be turned into an instrument of censorship and political retaliation.

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"This administration is using the weight of government to suppress lawful expression, because it challenges those in power and reflects views that they oppose," Gomez contended. "It is an administration-wide campaign."

On Thursday, after a group of Democratic lawmakers – all military veterans – posted a video reminding fellow service members and intelligence officers they are not required to obey illegal orders, President Donald Trump said they should be arrested and put on trial for committing, in his words, "seditious behavior punishable by death."

This week, Trump also verbally attacked two female journalists, telling an ABC News reporter her company's broadcast license should be taken away.

Gomez has previously visited New Mexico to discuss the FCC's work on increasing internet connectivity, particularly for tribal lands. As more places become 'news deserts' without a local paper, TV or radio station, she said people are less engaged in their communities because they lack good local information.

She believes Americans must speak up for their First Amendment rights and not capitulate to those attempting to silence them.

"We all must stand firm against every attempt to silence dissent," Gomez emphasized. "To surrender our right to speak freely, is to accept that those in power, not the people, will set the boundaries of debate that define our free society."

Gomez reports to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who has reopened previously closed complaints made by Trump against multiple TV and radio networks. She recently visited New Jersey, which will shutter its Public Broadcasting System in 2026, due to federal funding cuts. Other affiliates across the country have said they will lay off staff and reduce programming after funding was eliminated for the first time in nearly 60 years.