FCC Makes Huge Move Against ABC

Federal regulators just opened a high-stakes front in President Trump's battle with ABC— and, by extension, Disney and Jimmy Kimmel. The Federal Communications Commission, led by Trump ally Brendan Carr, ordered Disney's ABC on Tuesday to file early license-renewal applications for its eight company-owned stations, including outlets in New York and Chicago, within 30 days, CNN reports. The licenses weren't due for renewal until 2028, and early "call-ins" are almost unheard of, making the move a striking test of the government's power over broadcasters.

The FCC says the step stems from an investigation into possible violations of anti-discrimination rules tied to Disney's DEI programs and separate scrutiny of shows like The View. But it follows days of pressure from Trump and the White House for ABC to fire Kimmel over a joke about Melania Trump and his criticism of the administration. Public-interest lawyers and press-freedom advocates say the timing makes the action look like political payback for protected speech. "This weapon certainly hasn't been deployed against a major broadcaster in many decades," media lawyer Andrew Jay Schwartzman tells CNN.

The order doesn't affect ABC's broadcasts for now at the eight stations, or at the more than 200 ABC-affiliated stations owned by other companies. Schwartzman says the legal bar to actually revoke a license is "almost insurmountable," though the New York Times reports that "months, if not years of legal wrangling" are now probably inevitable. Disney called its ABC stations longstanding, rule-abiding public servants and said it is confident it meets the FCC's "character" and public-interest standards under the Communications Act and the First Amendment.

• Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the commission, condemned the move, Deadline reports. "This is unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere. It is a political stunt and it won't stick," she said in a statement. "Companies should challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side."
• "The First Amendment and the FCC's mandate do not permit the agency to use broadcast licenses as weapons to punish broadcasters for constitutionally protected content they air," Seth Stern, chief of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement. "Brendan Carr was once a serious communications lawyer, and has repeatedly and correctly said that the FCC has no role in policing content, whether news reporting or comedians' late-night jokes."