Defend Press Freedom From FCC Retaliation Against ABC

Congress must act immediately to stop the FCC's authoritarian attack on ABC's broadcast licenses. FCC Chair Brendan Carr is forcing ABC's eight local stations to apply for early renewal by May 28, moving up deadlines that weren't scheduled until 2028 at the earliest. This is naked retaliation for a Jimmy Kimmel joke about Melania Trump that the White House didn't like. The FCC has no authority to punish broadcasters for their political views or comedy content. As the Knight First Amendment Institute warns, Trump is trying to consolidate control over what Americans see and hear, creating a system where only government-aligned media organizations broadcast government-approved content. This isn't about one joke or one network. It's about whether we'll have a free press or state-controlled media. Carr has already pressured stations to pull Kimmel's show once before, and now he's weaponizing the license renewal process itself. Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the FCC, calls this move "unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere," but the damage is already done. Every broadcaster in America now knows they can be targeted for airing content this administration dislikes. Pass legislation to protect broadcast licenses from political interference and investigate Carr's abuse of regulatory power. The First Amendment depends on it.