To congressional Democrats, the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel ranks alongside DOGE, El Salvador, the Epstein documents and Signalgate as one of the watershed fights of the second Trump administration.
Why it matters: It's not about one late night host, lawmakers say, but the apparent government pressure that was brought to bear in pushing for his ouster over his comments after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
- "No president and no political party should weaponize the power of our federal government to punish those who disagree with them," Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) said in a statement.
- "Silencing critics through government power is the playbook of authoritarian regimes. We're fighting this."
Driving the news: Ansari is introducing a resolution, first obtained by Axios, denouncing Kimmel's suspension and the Federal Communications Commission's alleged role in it.
- It is being co-sponsored by 113 House Democrats — more than half the caucus.
- The measure "warns that such practices echo the tactics of authoritarian regimes and pose a serious threat to the democratic traditions and constitutional freedoms of the United States."
- It also urges the FCC and Department of Justice to "ensure that their policies and practices safeguard free expression and do not become tools of political retribution."
What happened: Kimmel said in his opening monologue on Monday that the "MAGA gang" was "desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them."
- That prompted a fierce reaction from FCC chair Brendan Carr, who said in an interview Wednesday that it's "long past the time" Kimmel's show be taken off the air.
- Carr floated the possibility of fines or license revocations.
- ABC announced later that day through a spokesperson that Kimmel's show would be "pre-empted indefinitely."
Zoom in: By Thursday, House Democrats had launched a frantic, multi-pronged response.
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and his leadership team put out a joint statement calling for Carr to "resign immediately," vowing to get at the truth "even if that requires the relentless unleashing of congressional subpoena power."
- House Oversight Committee ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) launched an investigation into ABC, Sinclair Broadcasting and the Trump administration over Kimmel's suspension.
- Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), during an Oversight Committee hearing, motioned unsuccessfully to subpoena Carr to testify about the incident.
- House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) signaled he plans to launch his own investigation, telling Axios he will "leave no stone unturned."
The other side: "As someone who actually knows what it's like to be censored, President Trump is a strong supporter of free speech and Democrat allegations to the contrary are so false, they're laughable," said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson.
What they're saying: Kimmel is a "a dumb person to take on," Khanna told Axios. "If they go after comedy or they go after sports, those are two things you can't do in America."
- Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), who worked at the Obama-era FCC, said shutting down free speech is "a great way to unite everyone" in opposition.
- Kimmel's firing "strikes at the core of our democracy, our constitution and freedoms, and our sense of personal security and liberty," argued Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), one of Ansari's co-sponsors.
Reality check: Democrats are in the minority in both chambers of Congress and locked out of power in the White House, while the Supreme Court holds a majority of Republican-appointed justices.
- Unless Democrats win back control of the lower chamber in 2026, they will lack the kind of investigative tools needed to make the Trump administration answer for its actions.
The bottom line: That leaves Democratic lawmakers to kick up a major fuss about the Kimmel suspension.
- "It gives us a chance to be the party of free speech again," said Khanna.
