Multiple U.S. Senators are demanding the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rescind their order requiring Disney to file early license renewals for ABC stations. The FCC indicated they would review Disney’s licenses two years early immediately after President Donald Trump demanded they fire Jimmy Kimmel.

Letter to FCC Over Disney Licenses

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; Commerce Committee Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.); Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.); and Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) penned the letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. It was also signed by Senators John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

The Senators called the FCC order “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 campaign against Disney and its editorial decision-making, culminating in last week’s early-renewal order, is an egregious abuse of power and a clear violation of the First Amendment,” reads the letter. “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. In fact, before serving as chairman, you frequently recognized the importance of the First Amendment and the freedom of speech, including for comedians. As you previously explained: ‘From Internet memes to late-night comedians, from cartoons to the plays and poems as old as organized government itself – Political Satire circumvents traditional gatekeepers & helps hold those in power accountable. Not surprising that it’s long been targeted for censorship.’ Now, you are doing exactly that — targeting political satire for censorship.”

The Senators request answers by May 21, 2026, to questions including:

• What internal legal review, including by the Office of General Counsel, was conducted before the order was issued?
• Did you consider, but reject, any less aggressive enforcement steps prior to issuing the order?
• The Commission issued a procedurally similar early-renewal order against Bridge News, LLC on April 27, 2026 — one day before the Disney order. Did you intentionally time the orders so that the Bridge News order would precede the Disney order in the public record?
• What is the status update on each open FCC investigation into Disney or its ABC stations?
• What is the FCC’s justification for issuing the early-renewal order amidst these ongoing investigations?
• Between April 22, 2026, and April 28, 2026, did you, your staff, or any other FCC personnel communicate with the White House, any other component of the Executive Office of the President, or any individual acting on their behalf regarding Disney, ABC, Jimmy Kimmel, or the early-renewal order?
• What are the prior instances in which the Commission has invoked 47 CFR § 73.3539(c) to call in the licenses of a broadcaster for early renewal, including a summary of the grounds for each instance?

Meanwhile, MoveOn Civil Action targeted Disney with anti-censorship mobile billboards telling them not to “cave to government censorship.”

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