FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has repeatedly threatened to revoke broadcast licenses from President Trump's least-favorite networks. He recently ordered the Disney-owned ABC to file early license-renewal applications for all of its TV stations over allegations that its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices violate anti-discrimination rules.
"The only plausible reason to issue the Order is to punish the Station for speech the government does not like", ABC said in its filings. The FCC is "using the license-renewal process to punish a broadcaster for its editorial choices" in "an extraordinary demonstration of power and coercion directed at disfavored editorial voices", it said.
ABC said the order it received "sends a clear warning to every broadcaster in America". If that warning wasn't clear enough, the FCC yesterday issued a public notice to "remind" all broadcasters of "their public-interest obligations". The public notice was issued on the same day as the deadline the FCC set for ABC to submit its early license-renewal applications, and urged all broadcasters to "review and modify their operations to ensure compliance".
Warning that other broadcasters could face threats to their licenses, the public notice said the FCC "will not hesitate to exercise its statutory authority to ensure that broadcasters either fulfill their public interest obligation or provide the privilege of being a broadcast licensee to someone that will fulfill that duty". The FCC said it may order early license reviews or other punitive measures when it "finds that a broadcaster has failed to serve the public interest". The notice said broadcasters have an "obligation to offer programming responsive to the needs and interests of the local communities they are licensed to serve".
[Hmm. Will the FCC bar Trump from TV, for "failing to serve the public interest"?]
Jennifer Sinco Kelleher: New Hawaii Law Targets Corporate Influence In Politics After Citizens United Ruling. (Associated Press; May 14, 2026)
Hawaii's Democratic governor today signed into law a bill that uses a novel approach to reduce the influence of corporations and hard-to-track "dark-money" groups that have been able to spend unlimited amounts on politics since a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
The law, which takes effect July 1, 2027, redefines corporations in a way that precludes spending on elections. A volunteer group in Montana is gathering signatures in hopes of putting a similar issue to voters in November.
The high court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission struck down a ban on corporate and union election spending as long as they don't donate directly to any campaigns. The case stemmed from Citizens United, a conservative group, wanting to run TV commercials promoting its anti-Hillary Clinton movie when she was running for president in 2008.
The ruling has benefited Democrats and Republicans. The campaign-finance watchdog group OpenSecrets tracked more than $4-Billion in outside political spending in the 2024 federal elections - almost 12 times as much as in 2008.
Some of that came from dark-money groups that aren't required to disclose donors, and the Brennan Center for Justice tallied a record $1.9-Billion in that type of spending in 2024. Dark money has also played a part in some state-level races.