Federal regulators should never decide which TV stations stay on the air based on whether people in power like what those stations broadcast. That principle is now being tested in federal court.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), led by Chair Brendan Carr, has moved to review the licenses of all eight local TV stations owned by ABC, years before they are due. Station licenses normally come up for renewal on a staggered schedule and are usually approved with little controversy. FCC veterans, media advocates and legal observers say reviewing every one of a network's stations at once has never been done before.

The timing raises serious concerns. The early review followed months of social media posts from President Donald Trump urging the FCC to take away ABC's licenses, along with his repeated criticism of the network's shows. In September 2025, Carr said on a podcast that ABC "can do this the easy way or the hard way," according to NPR. Carr has said the review is not tied to ABC's content and that no decision on the licenses has been made.

Concern reaches across party lines. Mark Fowler, who led the FCC under President Ronald Reagan, filed a statement backing ABC and has called Carr's actions unconstitutional. Groups often aligned with conservatives, including the Cato Institute, have also weighed in against the government's case.

This isn't about one network or one comedian. A tool that lets regulators pressure a broadcaster today can be turned against any outlet tomorrow, no matter which party holds power.

Sign the petition to tell Chair Carr to return ABC's license reviews to the normal schedule and keep politics out of broadcast licensing, before this becomes the new normal.