licenses, he responded that Disney is  going to have to come in and demonstrate that they've been operating in the public interest. 

Meanwhile, the FCC earlier this year initiated a formal review of whether ABC daytime talk show  The View  qualifies for an exemption to the agency's equal-time rules for political candidates.  Disney and  The View' have not established that that program is, in fact, bona fide news,  Carr said on Fox News in February.

In July, Carr said the FCC will consider ABC s decision to not carry a live broadcast of President Trump's speech about U.S. election security as part of its early review of its broadcast licenses.  I think that when you have the president of the United States standing inside the White House delivering an important speech, I think that's something that broadcasters should be carrying,  Carr said.

However, according to the FCC, none of those issues are related to the commission's decision to trigger an early review of the ABC licenses.

In its filing, the FCC said that Carr announced the investigation into Disney and ABC's DEI practices  long before making any of the statements about  The View,' Jimmy Kimmel, or President Trump's July 2026 public address on which Plaintiffs focus their narrative in this case. 

The FCC also said,  The mere fact that an agency official may  speak vigorously, sometimes colorfully' in the public sphere to  spark debate' does not imply prejudgment of a licensing proceeding.  Political discourse by prominent public figures,' even when  couched in terms' that members of the public find  scandaliz[ing],' does not establish animus. 

The FCC asked the court to dismiss ABC's complaint  for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. 

ABC is  unlikely to prevail on the merits because this Court lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter of this case,  the FCC said in the filing, saying that Congress has limited judicial review of agency orders to the federal appeals courts.  Plaintiffs cannot bypass these jurisdictional limits by framing their claim as one for  retaliation' in response to speech protected by the First Amendment. That theory requires them to show that  but for' animus toward Plaintiffs' speech, the Commission would not have initiated the early renewal proceeding. Abundant evidence belies that conclusion; it was Disney's lack of cooperation with the antidiscrimination inquiry that triggered the need for that additional investigatory step. 

A copy of the FCC's motion to dismiss the ABC suit is available at this link.

Judge Loren AliKhan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a Biden appointee, is presiding over the case. She has set a hearing for the week of Oct. 5.

According to the FCC, in early 2025, following  a series of public reports and allegations of racially or otherwise discriminatory practices at Disney,  Carr directed the agency's Enforcement Bureau to open an investigation into whether Disney was complying with the FCC's antidiscrimination requirements

The FCC claimed that a year into the DEI investigation, Disney's responses to commission information requests  were deficient and nonresponsive. So, on April 28, 2026, the Commission's Media Bureau issued an order directing the stations to apply for renewal of their licenses early, as is allowed in service of investigations under a longstanding Commission rule. 

Disney has said that in the FCC's DEI probe, it has produced over 11,000 pages of responsive documents  on a mutually agreed schedule  and that the commission's Enforcement Bureau  has never suggested its existing tools are insufficient for whatever it is investigating. 

The FCC said it is now in the process of reviewing and analyzing the  voluminous  public comments around the ABC license renewal. The agency has received 153,716 comments on the proceeding - fueled by Disney's campaign across the eight local ABC stations urging viewers to share comments about the FCC's review with the agency.

According to the FCC, Carr  has repeatedly emphasized that, although the allegations against Disney are serious, he and the agency remain  open-minded,' have  not made a decision,' and are  going to follow the facts and the law wherever they [lead].' 

The agency said that granting ABC's request for a preliminary injunction to halt the FCC's review  would mean taking administrative processes off the table before the Commission has seen and analyzed the voluminous evidence. This would only hobble the Commission's efforts to investigate and resolve serious allegations that Disney has engaged in unlawful discrimination, and from otherwise ensuring that Disney's stations are serving the public interest. 

The agency also argued that ABC's legal challenge in the matter was premature because the FCC has not yet moved to revoke the spectrum licenses, and noted that the ABC stations would still be able to broadcast over the airwaves pending the outcome of any legal proceeding.

 Licensees with pending renewal applications are entitled to continue operating without interruption during the license period for the duration of the renewal proceeding - even were it to result in a hearing. In fact, even if the Commission were to deny the stations' applications, their licenses would remain in effect for however long they might wish to seek judicial review,  the FCC said.