FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr announced a significant policy shift aimed at restoring law and order in the nation’s prisons — and credited President Donald Trump for finally taking action where past administrations failed.
Carr revealed plans to allow state and federal prisons to use cellphone jamming technology, a tool long requested by law enforcement to block the flow of contraband communications inside prison walls.
“Today, I announced a plan to allow prisons to jam contraband cellphones,” Carr said. “These devices have been flowing into prisons by the thousand & used to run gang & criminal enterprises.”
President Trump is restoring law and order.
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) September 5, 2025
Today, I announced a plan to allow prisons to jam contraband cellphones.
These devices have been flowing into prisons by the thousand & used to run gang & criminal enterprises.
The federal gov had been needlessly blocking this… pic.twitter.com/GbEFRci92O
The federal government had previously blocked this technology, despite repeated warnings from prison officials that inmates were using smuggled phones to orchestrate violent crimes, traffic drugs, and coordinate hits from behind bars.
That policy is now being reversed.
Carr called the previous ban “needless” and said the new initiative will give law enforcement “the flexibility they’ve long been asking for.” It’s part of a broader push by the Trump administration to restore public safety and reassert control over a justice system that has been weakened under progressive leadership.
The move directly targets a long-ignored national security loophole: violent criminals maintaining communication with the outside world through illegal devices, often with deadly consequences.
Under Trump’s leadership, the federal government is stepping in to deliver results — not excuses.