The letter, led by Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey, described the move as a “blatant effort” to punish the company after it refused President Donald Trump’s demand to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke he made about the president.
Carr announced the accelerated licensing review for Disney’s eight ABC television stations on April 28, a day after Trump called for Kimmel’s dismissal. The FCC chair has said the review stems from a year-long agency investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices, an explanation the Democratic senators rejected as pretextual. “This order is the latest and most extreme step in your use of the FCC’s licensing authority as a cudgel against broadcasters whose editorial choices displease the President,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter accused Carr of converting the FCC’s authority over public airwaves into “an instrument of presidential retribution against constitutionally protected speech.” The senators wrote that while the agency has the power to ensure broadcasters operate in the public interest, “it cannot serve as President Trump’s roving censor, threatening to revoke licenses against broadcasters whose editorial content — including a comedian’s jokes — displeases the President.” The protest could signal aggressive oversight of the FCC if Democrats win control of either chamber of Congress in the November midterm elections.
The tensions follow more than a year of Democratic and at times Republican backlash against Carr’s aggressive posture toward media companies. Under his leadership, the FCC has threatened investigations for alleged news distortion and intensified scrutiny of daytime and late-night television programming. Carr called up the license renewals years ahead of schedule, alarming many in Washington over the possible motivations of the unusual procedural move.
Thursday’s letter includes signatures from senior Democrats who oversee the FCC, including Senate Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and Senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, the top Democrat on Commerce’s telecom subcommittee. Other signatories include Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Brian Schatz of Hawaii. The letter asks Carr to respond by May 21 to questions about the FCC’s legal analysis and what contact the agency had with the White House before hauling the licenses in for early review.
FCC and White House spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The review covers all eight ABC-owned stations, a portfolio that includes major market affiliates in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Some Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee have expressed unease about Carr’s tactics in recent months, though none signed Thursday’s letter.
