Who Will Win This Legal Battle – FCC Chairman Brendan Carr or Superstar Lawyer Paul Clement?
Newsmax and a group of state cable associations said the D.C. Circuit should give the FCC no more than 14 days to vote on the Media Bureau’s March 19 approval of the Nexstar-TEGNA merger
Merger: Opponents of the proposed Nexstar‑TEGNA merger accused the FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr of gaming the regulatory process to keep the transaction from reaching a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. In a May 18 brief, several state cable associations and Newsmax told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that the full FCC must vote on the deal soon, calling it the key procedural step needed to move the merger to judicial review. They urged the panel to “direct [the] FCC to act on the [Application for Review] within 14 days,” saying the agency is “not even willing to self‑impose an actual deadline.” The AFR refers to the appeal to the full FCC of the Media Bureau’s March 19 approval of the $6.2 billion merger. FCC lawyers told the D.C. Circuit on May 11 that the agency expected to vote on the AFR “this year,” urging the court to let the agency maintain control of its agenda and limited resources. “If FCC does not act on Petitioners’ AFR on a timeframe facilitating a decision by fall, the Court should stay the Media Bureau’s order “in order to preserve its prospective jurisdiction,” wrote attorney Paul Clement, counsel to the opponents and famous for taking down the Chevron Doctrine in the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision in 2024. (More after paywall)
