California Sen. Adam Schiff (D) is requesting information from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about its recent approval of a megamerger between entertainment giants Paramount and Skydance, a deal that has been overshadowed by President Trump’s rocky relationship with CBS News.
In a letter to FCC Chair Brendan Carr, Schiff outlined a series of concerns, including those related to the $16 million settlement paid by Paramount to Trump weeks before the merger’s approval and subsequent meetings the FCC had following the settlement.
“The sequence of actions and statements leading up to and following the FCC’s merger approval … raises significant questions and alarm that the FCC — an independent regulatory agency — has become a vehicle for President Trump to exact personal retribution and undermine the freedom of the press,” the Democrat wrote.
The FCC approved the Paramount/Skydance merger just days after the settlement payment, which Paramount made to get the president to agree to drop a lawsuit he had filed over a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that aired last fall.
As part of its bid to the FCC, leaders at “New Paramount,” promised to retool CBS’s editorial strategy to represent a more “diverse” set of viewpoints and do away with corporate diversity policies.
Democrats and media watchdogs have slammed the FCC’s approval of the $7 billion deal, arguing the massive media conglomerate’s payment to Trump could violate federal bribery law.
“The FCC’s recent actions are especially troubling considering President Trump’s history of disparaging the press and undermining the protections afforded to them by the Constitution,” Schiff wrote in his letter to Carr. “He has repeatedly accused news agencies of bias or unfair reporting when the coverage is unfavorable to him.”
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Comments