As reported by Deadline, Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, stated that the review of the pending merger between media conglomerates Paramount Global and Skydance has no connection to the President’s lawsuit against CBS. Trump claims that 60 Minutes allegedly engaged in unethical editing practices to make his opponent in the 2024 election appear more favorable than she was.

In an interview with CNBC, Carr discussed the issue with CNBC host David Faber at the Milken Global Conference in LA. He simply responded, “We are staying in our own lane.” He went on to highlight that multiple separate issues are at play. Firstly, there is the lawsuit by the President against CBS, which has nothing to do with the FCC at all. Then there is the complaint filed by CBS, reported by Reuters, calling for the FCC to dismiss the complaint without delay. They claim they have only engaged in commonplace editorial practices. Additionally, there is a complaint to the FCC by The Center for American Rights, per their website, against WCBS-TV for alleged significant and intentional news distortion.

According to Daniel Suhr, President of the Center for American Rights, “This isn’t just about one interview or one network, this is about the public’s trust in the media on critical issues of national security and international relations during one of the most consequential elections of our time. When broadcasters manipulate interviews and distort reality, it undermines democracy itself. The FCC must act swiftly to restore public confidence in our news media.” Lastly, there is the FCC investigation into the merger. That is a lot of traffic; no wonder he said he is staying in his lane.

According to Deadline, when Carr was asked about the timeline for the merger’s completion, he stated he had “no timeline to announce.” He further iterated that he hasn’t decided whether the deal would be finalized simultaneously with the complaint. He continues to claim that the FCC is “looking at the 60 Minutes thing right now … We put that out for comment, and we’re going to make a final decision there, ultimately, based on the law and the facts and the record … We don’t have a final decision at this point. The comment cycle closed. We’ve heard from a lot of people. We’re looking at that separately. We have lots of transactions before us right now at the FCC, including a deal that involves CBS. But again, no sort of final decision there either.”

Deadline continues to report that Faber probed Carr about his opinion on President Trump’s comments towards liberal legacy media outlets, notably, continually referring to the NBCUniversal subsidiary and CNBC sister company as MSDNC, a shot at their accused bias in favor of left-leaning news reporting. Carr responded, “I take note of it. I look at it. But you know, at the end of the day, the President has his own First Amendment rights. I think it’s important that we have a back and forth, a give and take on these issues. I think it’s, you know, good and healthy for the country.”

The FCC also has open investigations into Comcast and Disney related to President Trump’s campaign to end DEI programs. According to mxdwn, following a cease and desist letter and warning of the upcoming investigation into its DEI-related activities. Comcast released a statement claiming, “We believe that a diverse, equitable, and inclusive company is a more innovative and successful one. Across our workforce, products, and content, we embrace diversity of background, perspective, culture, and experience, and together with our partners, we are working to fight injustice against any race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, disability, or veteran status.” Mxdwn also reported that Disney and ABC are in the line of fire. They quoted Carr as to saying, “While Disney started as an iconic American company, it recently went all in on DEI. I am concerned that their DEI practices may violate FCC prohibitions on invidious forms of discrimination.” He went on to single out ABC, claiming that their mandate to include underrepresented groups may have forced racial and identity quotas of 50 percent or more into every level of production. With what seems like endless investigations and complaints on his plate, its clear to see that the FCC chairman has his work cut out for him.