'Trump's roving censor': Top Senate Democrats demand Brendan Carr end Disney review
Source: Politico
05/07/2026 01:31 PM EDT
A dozen senior Senate Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, on Thursday demanded that FCC Chair Brendan Carr immediately rescind his order hauling in Disney’s broadcast licenses for early review.
The letter, led by Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, called the review a “blatant effort” to punish Disney, which owns ABC, for refusing to acquiesce to President Donald Trump’s demand to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke he made about the president. Carr, who announced the review a day after Trump’s demand, has said it’s the result of the agency’s year-long investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices, a claim rejected by Democrats.
“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 Senate Democrats wrote. “You have effectively converted the FCC’s authority over the public airwaves into an instrument of presidential retribution against constitutionally protected speech.”
“Although the FCC has the authority 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 letter adds.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/07/disney-censor-fcc-carr-senate-democrats-00910167
Link to Sen. Markey PRESS RELEASE - Markey, Schumer, Cantwell, Luján Demand FCC Stop First Amendment Attacks on Disney, ABC
Link to LETTER (inquiry) (PDF) - https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/carr_license_renewal_letter.pdf
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