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The Trump Administration rants about ABC News And NBC, Says They Should Lose FCC Licenses


Umm then again Chairman carr is high on abusing power. That's all it is here.

Then again Chairman carr is high on abusing power. That's all it is here.
You can say that again! :LOL:

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Chairman Carr was asked how he might proceed with an ABC license challenge on the Katie Miller podcast:


“There’s lots of options,” Carr said. “You have a license. The licenses come due every so often. You can accelerate when a license comes due and say, ‘Hey, we have significant concerns with the value of conducting your operations. We want to review your license now. And decide if you’re in the public interest.'”

He continued: “If we find that a broadcaster hasn’t been doing that, then the statute requires us to issue a hearing designation order.”

The problem with that view is that the statute doesn't give the FCC authority to make that decision. It's up to the courts.

The words "public interest" cover many things. Picking on phrase on a network comedy show in the context of thousands of hours of broadcasting is a very selective view. There is also nothing in the statute that gives the FCC authority to revoke a license over such a thing. Typically there might be a fine. This is a very extreme view.

CNN is reporting the paperwork has already been filed:

“Disney’s ABC is hereby directed to file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days — in other words, by May 28, 2026,” the agency said in an order published Tuesday afternoon.
 

Here is more on this and good luck to Anna Gomez at the FCC pushing back on whatever Chairman Carr is doing to get Disney's legal team to react.

Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the FCC, chided the agency for launching an early review of ABC stations’ broadcast licenses, calling it a politically motivated attempt to stifle speech.

Earlier on Tuesday, the FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr ordered an early license renewal process for eight stations owned by ABC, citing an investigation into the diversity, equity and inclusion programs at The Walt Disney Co. But the move follows calls by President Donald Trump and Melania Trump to fire Jimmy Kimmel, after he made a joke about the first lady being an “expectant widow” on a show last week.


Gomez said in a statement, “This is the most egregious action this FCC has taken in violation of the First Amendment to date. As part of its ongoing campaign of censorship and control, the White House called publicly for the silencing of a vocal critic, and this FCC has now answered that call.

Chairman Carr is pushing for a May 28 deadline.

As expected, Brendan Carr and the FCC on Tuesday unleashed license-renewal hell on The Walt Disney Co. However, with another Jimmy Kimmel brouhaha erupting with Donald Trump and MAGAland, the Josh D’Amaro-led Disney is playing it cool and playing along, at least for now.

“We have received the Federal Communications Commission’s order initiating an accelerated review of the licenses held by ABC’s owned television stations,” the Disney said immediately after the FCC ordered Disney “to file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days.”
The station renewals were originally set to occur in 2028 and 2031. Now Disney has to have all the paperwork in by May 28 at the latest.
 
Today while speaking at an event with King Charles, the president made a joke about his own mortality:


Jimmy Kimmel played this clip on his TV show tonight, and asked, "Isn't this exactly why he wants me fired?

 
Chairman Carr was asked how he might proceed with an ABC license challenge on the Katie Miller podcast:




The problem with that view is that the statute doesn't give the FCC authority to make that decision. It's up to the courts.
And many courts, including the nation's highest court, are stacked with Trump appointees.
 
And many courts, including the nation's highest court, are stacked with Trump appointees.

What's interesting is they're all on the record as being against giving federal agencies more power. In fact Justice Thomas is the one who is the most vocal about it. Thomas says he wants to challenge the "7 words you can't say on the radio" decision. He thinks the FCC has too much power. The conservative court might rule against the president on this one.
 
What's interesting is they're all on the record as being against giving federal agencies more power. In fact Justice Thomas is the one who is the most vocal about it. Thomas says he wants to challenge the "7 words you can't say on the radio" decision. He thinks the FCC has too much power. The conservative court might rule against the president on this one.
He must be itching to tell the Anita Hill story to a sympathetic host without having to use euphemisms.
 
Slippary slope I say just like MAD wanted FOX29 the FOX O&O in Philly license revoked which was baseless & without merit as well, why the outgoing FCC chairwomen denied them one of the few things Jessica got right.
 
What's interesting is they're all on the record as being against giving federal agencies more power.
They. Don’t. Care. There is no principle, no guiding philosophy. Whatever fits the agenda in the moment need not conform to any past position, no matter how recently that position was espoused. Nor is this new. The regime has consistently given more and more power to the agencies that can do their bidding. That it’s now the FCC choosing to invent power it doesn’t have by statute is hardly surprising.
In fact Justice Thomas is the one who is the most vocal about it.
See above.
Thomas says he wants to challenge the "7 words you can't say on the radio" decision. He thinks the FCC has too much power.
Sure he does. Only when said FCC is doing something he doesn’t like.
The conservative court might rule against the president on this one.
The president lost, under fairly specific grounds, the tariff case, but that has been the exception, not the rule. Over and over and over again, the hard-core Trump-aligned block has contorted itself into a judicial pretzel to support him. Were this case challenging licenses because of pro-conservative content, of course they’d be offering a loud defense of free speech. There is nothing in their track record that indicates they would make this a scenario where they’d challenge Trump. Perhaps more importantly, if in fact there are one or two retirements before the end of the year, as has been speculated, new justices in the mold of Aileen Cannon have already demonstrated their fealty to him.
 


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