1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I am writing to express serious concern about recent actions by the Federal Communications Commission that threaten press freedom and violate First Amendment principles. FCC Chair Brendan Carr's stated intention to eliminate the equal time rule exemption for talk shows is creating a chilling effect on political discourse, even before any formal rule change has occurred. On Monday evening, CBS executives prevented Stephen Colbert from airing an interview with James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, on The Late Show. CBS attorneys cited FCC guidelines as justification, despite the fact that talk shows have been exempt from the equal time rule and Chair Carr has only released a letter expressing his intention to reconsider this exemption without implementing any actual changes. This preemptive censorship demonstrates how regulatory threats alone can suppress constitutionally protected speech. The timing and circumstances raise troubling questions about political interference in media operations. Colbert noted that Paramount, CBS's parent company, is currently in discussions with the Trump administration regarding a potential bid to purchase Warner Bros. The FCC is also reportedly investigating ABC's The View for interviewing Talarico. This pattern suggests regulatory power is being weaponized to influence editorial decisions and silence political candidates based on party affiliation. The equal time rule was designed to ensure fairness, but applying it to entertainment talk shows would effectively ban political candidates from major media platforms unless networks provide equal time to every candidate in every race. This is impractical and would eliminate an important forum for voters to learn about candidates, particularly in competitive races like the Texas Senate election where Democrats are seeking their first statewide victory in over 30 years. I urge you to publicly oppose any FCC action that would eliminate the talk show exemption from equal time rules and to investigate whether the FCC is engaging in politically motivated enforcement that violates press freedom. The government should not dictate which political voices can appear on television.