{"id":595,"date":"2026-07-16T08:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T08:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=595"},"modified":"2026-07-16T08:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T08:38:09","slug":"cruz-democrats-push-back-on-fcc-move-to-lift-ownership-cap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=595","title":{"rendered":"Cruz, Democrats push back on FCC move to lift ownership cap"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to allow for more consolidation in local television, a move that got pushback from Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz over the role of Congress in changing the television ownership cap.<\/p>\n

Read more CDC nominee walks tightrope on vaccines, service under RFK Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr announced plans Wednesday to vote to repeal the national broadcast ownership cap, which limits what percentage of the market one ownership group can reach.<\/p>\n

The move drew quick criticism from Cruz, R-Texas, who reiterated his stance that Congress would need to take up the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I mentioned in February during our hearing on this matter, I am skeptical a change can be made absent an act of Congress. I look forward to reviewing the full order when it is released tomorrow to get more detail on the FCC\u2019s precise approach,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The belief that the 39 percent cap of U.S. television households can\u2019t be changed without an act of Congress is shared by many Democrats.<\/p>\n

Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, D-N.M., ranking member of the Commerce telecommunications and media panel, called the move \u201ca blatant attempt to circumvent Congress\u2019s authority.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCongress set the national television ownership cap at 39 percent, and only Congress \u2014 not the FCC \u2014 has the authority to change it. It is clear that Chairman Carr is once again doing President Trump\u2019s bidding,\u201d Luj\u00e1n said in a statement.<\/p>\n

In 2004, Congress required the FCC to set the cap at 39 percent by amending the 1996 telecommunications law.<\/p>\n

Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., also a member of the Commerce Committee, said the move would be overreach by the FCC, and that he hopes \u201cCongress reasserts our role in this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last thing that the American people need is just more consolidation and less diversity, especially when it comes to information and broadcasting and news,\u201d Kim said.<\/p>\n

He also underlined concerns about whose interests Carr serves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen Brendan Carr over and over again just \u2026 rubber stamping what the president wants him to do, rubber stamping what [the] president\u2019s supporters and donors want him to do,\u201d Kim said.<\/p>\n

Justification<\/h2>\n

The vote is set to take place on Aug. 6. Republicans hold a 2-1 advantage on the five-member commission, with two seats currently vacant.<\/p>\n

In an op-ed published by Breitbart News, Carr wrote that the percentage cap would be replaced with case-by-case review to determine whether media mergers and acquisitions are in the public interest.<\/p>\n

He said that framework would respond to a market where streaming and cable can reach all households and that it would give local stations more power in relation to national programmers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreased scale will enable broadcasters to attract the capital and advertising revenue needed to sustain and produce trusted and community-focused news and programming,\u201d Carr wrote.<\/p>\n

North Carolina GOP Rep. Richard Hudson, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee\u2019s panel on communications and technology, praised the move in a post on X, calling it a \u201cmassive win for local news.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis reform will help local stations invest, grow, and keep serving our communities,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Read more Where has all the FISA fire gone?<\/a><\/p>\n

In March of last year, Hudson led a bipartisan letter with 64 other House lawmakers, including four Democrats, to Carr encouraging an update to the rule.<\/p>\n

Despite his position that the cap is the responsibility of Congress, Cruz has seemed open to a change.<\/p>\n

At the hearing he held in February, Cruz offered arguments on both sides of the cap issue, including that removing the cap could help local news to better compete and that it could lead to viewpoint consolidation.<\/p>\n

Democrats have also been critical of the possible impact of repealing the cap.<\/p>\n

The House Energy and Commerce Committee\u2019s ranking member, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., sent a letter to Carr in February warning the FCC against trying to lift the ownership cap.<\/p>\n

\u201cDocumented evidence demonstrates that past deregulation efforts have actually reduced competition, localism, and diversity of viewpoints,\u201d Pallone wrote.<\/p>\n

Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., ranking member of the committee\u2019s communications and technology panel, on Wednesday called Carr\u2019s plans \u201cpolitical interference\u201d and said a bill she sponsored would stop such actions. That bill would prohibit FCC license decisions on the basis of viewpoint.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis claim that broadcasters will only be allowed to grow when they serve the \u2018public interest\u2019 is especially alarming given his record of using the FCC to pressure media companies and advance Donald Trump\u2019s political interests,\u201d Matsui said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Uncertain consequences<\/h2>\n

Lifting the cap could have possible benefits for local broadcasting through increased investment, experts said, but applying a public interest standard would give significant leeway to the FCC.<\/p>\n

Clay Calvert, a fellow with the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, said that in theory, local journalism could benefit from the resources of larger ownership groups. In practice, he said that the \u201cpublic interest\u201d standard, which would likely include looking out for localism, viewpoint diversity and competition, is perhaps too amorphous, and particularly controversial as handled by Carr.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe danger is \u2026 will the public interest simply mean whatever Donald Trump thinks is in the public interest down the line, in terms of a good or bad ownership deal?\u201d<\/p>\n

While conservatives generally favor deregulation, greater media consolidation could also lead to religious broadcasters being \u201csqueezed out,\u201d Calvert said, which could lead to uncertainty for some Republicans.<\/p>\n

Amy Kristin Sanders, a professor of First Amendment studies at Penn State University, said that having fewer companies competing in a media market would lead to \u201cless diversity of voices,\u201d but that the impact for local news could be complicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, there\u2019s going to be some consolidation among station resources. Now you might call those efficiencies. Whether or not an organization chooses to reinvest savings into a news product is anyone\u2019s guess,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sanders also noted the FCC\u2019s recent approval of the merger of broadcasters Nexstar and Tegna, despite ownership cap concerns. That merger is currently subject to a preliminary injunction by a federal court and was frequently brought up\u00a0during the Senate Commerce hearing in February.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t seem like the FCC\u2019s interested in following the rule right now anyway. So this might simply be a matter of housekeeping,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sanders also said that any action by the FCC on the cap will likely end up in court.<\/p>\n

Read more Fiscal 2027 State Department spending bill passed by House<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to allow for more consolidation in local television, a move that got pushback from Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz over the role of Congress in changing the television ownership cap. 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