ABC lawyers allege Trump’s FCC engaged in political retaliation against network

Lawyers for an ABC-owned television station have accused the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of using its regulatory powers to punish the network for political purposes, in the latest flashpoint between the Trump-controlled agency and American broadcasters. In a legal motion filed on Thursday, KTRK-TV, ABC’s Houston affiliate, launched an aggressive pushback against the FCC’s investigation into the long-running daytime talk show The View, arguing the action threatens to “upend decades of settled law and practice” and chill constitutionally protected speech.

Political punishment alleged

KTRK-TV, owned by ABC, explicitly alleged that the FCC’s enforcement action is politically motivated. The station’s lawyers pointed to the fact that The View frequently features liberal guests — though it has long included at least one conservative voice — while conservative programmes have, in their view, been given an unfair pass. “Some may dislike certain – or even most – of the viewpoints expressed on The View or similar shows,” the motion argued. “Such dislike, however, cannot justify using regulatory processes to restrict those views.”

The FCC, under chair Brendan Carr, opened the enforcement action in February after the show featured James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Texas, on 2 February. Talarico’s primary opponent, Representative Jasmine Crockett, had also appeared on the programme. The agency is examining whether the network violated the “equal time” rule — a regulation that requires broadcast stations to offer equivalent airtime to all legally qualified political candidates when one candidate appears — by not affording the same platform to Talarico’s rivals.

FCC’s reasoning and the status of The View

Chairman Carr confirmed to the Guardian in February that the investigation was under way. The FCC’s Media Bureau issued guidance in January signalling that late-night and daytime talk shows would be scrutinised for “partisan motivation” when determining eligibility for the “bona fide” news interview exemption — a long-standing carve‑out in the equal‑time rules. Carr has publicly stated that The View faces an “uphill climb” in proving it qualifies as legitimate news programming, and the agency’s January guidance suggested that past decisions granting exemptions were fact-specific and not wholesale approvals. The FCC’s move follows a separate controversy over Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show, which pulled a planned interview with Talarico over fears of violating equal‑time provisions; Colbert later posted the interview online, and Talarico reported a surge in campaign donations.

The news exemption defence

ABC’s legal argument centres on the claim that The View has operated under a valid exemption as a “bona fide” news interview programme for more than two decades. In the 7 May filing — first highlighted by the New York Times — the station maintained that the exemption remains valid and that the constitutional weaknesses of the equal‑time doctrine are even more pronounced today, given the vast array of media options available to American voters. “While candidates are always able to connect with voters on cable, podcasts, and social media, specifically requiring broadcast airtime for all qualified candidates does not expand speech; rather, it makes coverage infeasible, which ultimately reduces it,” the filing stated. The station also argued that the FCC’s demand for a new ruling on the exemption is unprecedented and beyond its authority, noting that the show is part of the network’s news division and has consistently been treated as a news programme.

ABC’s parent company, Disney, is simultaneously facing a separate FCC investigation into its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. Last week, Chairman Carr cited the findings of that investigation as the basis for an extraordinary order requiring ABC to apply early to renew the licences of all eight of its local stations — licences that were not originally due for renewal until 2028 at the earliest and 2031 at the latest. The order came shortly after President Trump publicly called for ABC to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke he had made. Critics, including a group of prominent Senate Democrats who sent Carr a letter on Thursday urging him to rescind the order, have described the move as an “extraordinary abuse of power” and an “unconstitutional abuse of the Commission’s powers”.

Anna M Gomez, the lone Democrat-appointed FCC commissioner, praised ABC’s response to the equal‑time investigation in a post on X. “The days of the FCC as a paper tiger are numbered,” she wrote. “What the public will remember is who complied in advance and who fought back. I’m glad Disney is choosing courage over capitulation.” Gomez has previously characterised the FCC’s actions under Carr as “government intimidation” and “sham ‘investigations’” aimed at weaponising the agency’s regulatory authority against perceived critics of the administration. PEN America and other advocacy groups have accused the Trump administration of a broader campaign to reshape media coverage through pressure, investigations and regulatory action against outlets critical of the White House — including reopening dismissed complaints against CBS, ABC and NBC, and launching investigations into NPR and PBS.