The sale of #Paramount would end the Redstone family’s decades-long control of #CBS News & Paramount Pictures & put it in the hands of #DavidEllison, the son of #LarryEllison, a #tech #billionaire who has backed #Trump.

Brendan Carr, the chairman of the #FCC, has said that Trump’s lawsuit against Paramount was not linked to the FCC’s review of the company’s merger w/Skydance. Paramount has also said that the 2 issues were unrelated.

#Kagan writes: "Under our #nondelegation precedents, #Congress sufficiently guided & constrained the discretion that it lodged with the #FCC to implement the universal-service contribution scheme. And the FCC, in turn, has retained all decision-making authority within that sphere, relying on the ‘corporation’ only for nonbinding advice. Nothing in those arrangements, either separately or together, violates the Constitution."

#law #SCOTUS #ERate #phone #internet #subsidies #LowIncome

The next opinion is #FCC v. Consumers' Research [anti-woke folk]

It is by Justice #Kagan, & the vote is 6-3 again. #Gorsuch dissents, joined by #ClarenceThomas & #Alito.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-354_0861.pdf

It holds that neither #Congress's delegation of #power to the FCC or the FCC's delegation of power to the private corporation violated a theory known as the #nondelegation doctrine.

#law #SCOTUS #ERate #phone #internet #subsidies #LowIncome

There are 6 cases remaining:

#FreeSpeech Coalition v. Paxton — #Texas law that requires #porn sites to verify age.

#FCC v. Consumers’ Research — consumer *protection* group devoted to fighting “#woke” corporations contends that E-Rate phone & internet subsidies for #LowIncome communities violates the #nondelegation doctrine

#SCOTUS #law

https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/06/remaining-supreme-court-cases/

#Trump's appointee as chair of the #FCC, Brendan Carr, has launched investigations of the underwriting spots aired by #NPR & #PBS member stations. He claimed they were indistinguishable from commercials on for-profit networks, a violation of federal statute. (PBS & NPR say they have worked closely with agency staffers for decades to ensure those spots adhere to the #law.) Carr's FCC oversees to whom #licenses are granted to #broadcast using the federal airwaves.

#Verizon’s pledge to end #DEI was outlined in a May 15 letter to the commission, which Carr shared on X Friday. “A good step forward for *equal* opportunity, *nondiscrimination*, & the public interest,” the #FCC chair wrote. Shortly after he posted that, the FCC announced the approval of the Verizon - #Frontier #merger.

After threatening to target the media several hundred times since he first announced his candidacy for President, Trump is now instructing his bootlicking Attorney General Pam Bondi to make his war on journalists possible. Although Bondi is acting in the context of hunting down leakers in the Department of Defense, the reality is that Downmarket Mussolini will almost certainly come for his critics in the media and the sources they speak to, next.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/bondi-journalism-protections

Bondi Shreds Biden-Era Protections for Journalists as Trump White House Hunts Leakers

"As part of a renewed crackdown on leaks, Bondi said she is issuing revised Justice Department regulations stating that media outlets "must answer subpoenas" related to efforts to uncover sources of unauthorized disclosures within the federal government.

"The policy contemplates the use of subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants to compel production of information and testimony by and relating to members of the news media, subject to the Privacy Protection Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000aa, and the approval of the department's leadership in some instances," the memo states. "The attorney general must also approve efforts to question or arrest members of the news media."

As I alluded to above, I find US corporate media's bloodless, minutiae-focused reporting on Bondi's actions here curious and alarming given that the Trump regime is giving itself the power to come after them and their journalists. Obviously the regime is acting in response to the embarrassing leaks surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and the investigation DNI Tulsi Gabbard is conducting into those leaks. None of this is happening in a vacuum however, and I don't know who it serves to report only in the narrow context of the regime's narrative here.

Like let's cut the crap right? During his first administration, Trump's Department of Justice already tried to go after reporters to expose their sources. Trump is a guy who threatened journalists with implied carceral sexual assault if they didn't give up their sources, on the campaign trail. The Kelpto Kaiser has literally said negative reporting about himself and his regime should be "illegal." The regime is weaponizing the FCC and holding McCarthy-esque hearings lead by fascist conspiracy crank-turned Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene to target NPR and PBS for criticizing Trump and admitting LGBTQ people exist in American life. Trump is literally exerting so much pressure on CBS over the editing on a 60 Minutes segment featuring Kamala Harris (a woman he already beat in the 2024 US election) that the program's longtime editor resigned because the show's independence was compromised.

I honestly couldn't give a rats ass about warmongers working for a fascist regime who get caught leaking, but surely it doesn't take a psychic to realize that the would-be dictator already targeting media that criticizes or opposes his fascist agenda, is going to use new Department of Justice guidelines that let him more freely target media that criticize or oppose his fascist agenda, to further target media that criticizes or opposes his fascist agenda. This isn't rocket science here. For corporate media outlets to pretend this story is purely about internal leaks inside Pete Hegseth's staff strains credulity, and would appear to be very shortsighted indeed.

#Amazon said it had established communications with all of the satellites, and the sequence of turning them on was “proceeding as planned.” The #FCC’s approval of the constellation came with a requirement that at least half the #satellites needed to be deployed by July 30, 2026. Industry analysts say the company could get an extension if it has demonstrated substantial progress by then https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/science/amazon-kuiper-launch-ula.html

@arstechnica

Does #Trump not realize this just makes him look weaker & terrified of the #truth?

It's very telling he wants to use this #FCC rule on #Comcast & no one before tried to use it on #FOX, OANN or NewsMax.

Can't have the people hearing about all the #citizens the #fascists want to deport to El Salvador, can we?