House Democratic leaders demanded the resignation of the Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, on Thursday, accusing him of forcing ABC to suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show through regulatory threats.
“Brendan Carr, the so-called Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has engaged in the corrupt abuse of power,” six lawmakers including the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said in a joint statement. “He has disgraced the office he holds by bullying ABC, the employer of Jimmy Kimmel, and forcing the company to bend the knee to the Trump administration.”
The lawmakers threatened congressional investigations and warned that House Democrats would “make sure the American people learn the truth, even if that requires the relentless unleashing of congressional subpoena power”.
The statement came after ABC indefinitely suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday after they claimed that parts of his opening monologue about the killing of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk were insensitive.
Andrew Alford, the president of the broadcasting division of Nexstar Communication, which operates a number ABC affiliate stations, called Kimmel’s comments “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse”.
On Wednesday’s broadcast Kimmel said “many in Maga land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk” and mocked Vice-President JD Vance’s guest hosting of Kirk’s podcast, saying Trump was “fanning the flames” by attacking people on the left.
Within a day, Carr condemned Kimmel’s comments as “truly sick“ and suggested ABC and its parent company, Disney, could face regulatory consequences for spreading misinformation. The FCC chair also argued the network had violated obligations to operate in the “public interest” under federal broadcasting rules.
The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Carr became FCC chairman on 20 January, when Trump picked him for the role on his first day in office. A commissioner since 2017, Carr did not require Senate confirmation, having previously served as the FCC’s general counsel and senior Republican commissioner.
While the FCC oversees broadcast licensees under the 1934 Communications Act, its power to pressure media companies over entertainment content is at odds with the first amendment to the US constitution. Former FCC chairs have in the past year condemned Carr and Donald Trump’s strategy, which they say threatens the independence of the FCC.
ABC, which faces a number of regulatory issues that need FCC approval, has not explained whether the decision to suspend the show “indefinitely” was driven by government pressure, affiliate concerns, or public backlash.
Kimmel is the second prominent US late-night host to lose his show in the last few months. CBS announced in July that it would be cancelling Stephen Colbert’s show after he was also critical of Trump.
The Democratic lawmakers characterized the cancellations as a form of censorship.
“The censoring of artists and cancellation of shows is an act of cowardice,” they wrote. “It may also be part of a corrupt pay-to-play scheme.”
