WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation sees it, “It is not government’s job to censor speech, and I do not believe the FCC should operate as the speech police.”
That’s what Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) told Punchbowl News in response to the FCC’s rare act of issuing an early license renewal order to the Walt Disney Co. in regard to its 8 ABC Owned Stations properties.
On Thursday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had this to say about the order handed to Disney and a nearly identical order given to Manoj Bhargava-led Bridge News LLC.
Answering questions from a host of reporters during a post-April Open Meeting press conference at FCC Headquarters on Thursday, Carr stood by his belief that it is the potential “invidious forms of DEI discrimination” at ABC that is central to the early license renewal orders.
The queries began with Chris Cole of Law360 asking about a 2025 petition from “former FCC officials” regarding the Commission’s “news distortion” policy. Does Carr plan to take any action on that, with the petition asking for a repeal. “The Commission hasn’t made a decision on that petition and perhaps they are going to court there, so we’ll have to ask our Office of the General Counsel,” Carr replied, noting that the policy has been on the books for a very long time and with no plans to bring it up for a review or new vote. “It is in our case law,” and has been voted on in the past numerous times, Carr said.
Later, Jeremy Barr, a reporter covering the media for the Guardian in the U.S., was first to ask Carr if the early license renewal order sent to Disney/ABC was in any way tied to a call for Jimmy Kimmel’s firing by the president in response to an arguably tawdry comment made by the ABC late-night talk host on his program last week, given the timing.
Carr’s reply was to walk through the timeline “to alleviate some of the confusion in the reporting I’ve seen,” going back to March 2025 when he wrote to Disney stating there was evidence or allegations that the company “was creating racially segregated spaces inside the company.” Later, in June 2025, a first letter of inquiry was sent to Disney on the topic. Fast-forward to today, and the Commission believes the document production from Disney as part of the process is less than satisfactory.
Could NBCUniversal be subject to an early license renewal hearing, Barr asked? Carr was somewhat elusive with a definitive answer, noting that DEI discrimination will be looked at. he also noted that an unnamed radio station licensee is receiving notice that it will be subject to a short license renewal cycle; this is not out of the ordinary with respect to FCC actions involving AM and FM radio stations.
The next question came from Punchbowl reporter Diego Muñoz, and he asked about Cruz’s comments on Freedom of Speech as it pertains to the ABC Owned Stations early license renewal order, in particular.
Carr said he saw the Punchbowl “headline” and understands “some of the incentive structures to use headlines to try to drive wedges on issues.” But, he added, “I don’t think that there’s the daylight there” indicated in the story with Senator Cruz.
Carr continued, “I agree with Senator Cruz. The FCC should not operate as a ‘speech police’ and what we have to do is we have these rules and regulations, these policies on our books, and we have to apply them. In this particular case, this action is driven by investigation into DEI conduct — not any speech at all.”
Kimmel’s joke on Jimmy Kimmel Live! referenced first lady Melania Trump, as he said she would “glow like an expectant widow” at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner; a lone gunman seeking to disrupt the event forced the cancellation of the black-tie gathering on Saturday night at the Washington Hilton. This was on the mind of David Shepardson of Reuters, who asked Carr directly if there was any pressure from the White House or connection otherwise to the timing of the ABC early license renewal order. Carr replied that the decision “was made inside this building,” insisting that the agency was under no pressure, no call and no assessment from outside sources.
At the same time, Carr’s Freedom of Speech beliefs mean President Trump has “every right” to make the decisions he has made and the public calls he has made.
Shepardson asked if Kimmel’s comments would be reviewed at a later time as part of the early license renewal order, any Petitions to Deny that arrive at the FCC that argue ABC Owned Stations were not operating in the public interest by airing those comments would not be ignored by the Carr Commission.
For Monty Tayloe at Communications Daily, his attention was focused on a National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) complaint specifically targeting Kimmel. Carr would only acknowledge that the NRB filed the complaint, and the FCC will review it.
Lastly, will Equal Employment Opportunity matters be teed up at the Carr Commission regarding “Re: Delete, Delete, Delete” efforts under his leadership? The FCC will take a look, Carr said.
ANNA GOMEZ: ‘THIS IS CLEARLY A PRETEXT … I MEAN, GIVE ME A BREAK’
For @agomezfcc the early license renewal order to @ABCNetwork station O&Os is harassment and intimidation likely directed by POTUS despite Chairman Carr’s statement it is not pic.twitter.com/qOuL35KH1W
— RBR+TVBR (@RBRTVBR) April 30, 2026
