Ted Cruz Pens Scathing Letter to Trump FCC Chief For Greenlighting Unprecedented Media Merger

AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the chair and ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, pushed back hard on Tuesday against FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who gave the OK for Nexstar and Tegna to merge.

Cruz, a close Trump ally, taking aim at Carr is particularly notable given Carr’s close relationship to both President Donald Trump and Project 2025, the MAGA blueprint for Trump’s second term – which Carr helped author.

“This decision raises serious concerns about the Commission’s use of delegated authority in matters involving significant legal, policy, and economic consequences,” began the letter, adding:

The transaction is unprecedented in scale, resulting in the largest local broadcast television group in U.S. history, with 259 full-power television stations across 44 states, reaching nearly 80 percent of U.S. television households, even after required divestitures. A transaction of this magnitude alone warranted consideration and a vote by the full Commission.

The FCC approved the $6.2 billion merger in mid-March, which, if finalized, would give the combined company reach into more than half of all U.S. homes, which violates a 2024 Congressional cap that limits broadcasters to only a 39% national market reach.

The deal also set off alarm bells inside MAGA, as close allies of the president warned the deal would hurt their business. Politico reported at the time:

Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, a confidant to President Donald Trump who runs a conservative cable channel, and Charles Herring, the president of One America News Network, who opposed allowing such broadcast TV consolidation over what it might mean for their businesses and conservative media. Matt Schlapp, chair of the Conservative Political Action Conference, also opposed the deal.

Carr, however, promoted the deal as a way to get more conservative content into more American households, arguing that the new combined company would be friendly to the president, reported Politico, which added:

Other supporters include political activists Laura Loomer and Mike Davis, former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer, and former House committee chairs like Greg Walden and Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

Last Friday, a federal judge in California temporarily paused the merger as part of an antitrust case brought by DirecTV. The judge set an April 7th trial date for a preliminary injunction.

Cruz’s letter accused the FCC of violating its oversight function in allowing the merger to go through, “In a transaction of this scale, where integration proceeds quickly, and unwinding becomes impractical, delay in judicial review can insulate the decision from meaningful challenge. That outcome is difficult to reconcile with the Commission’s obligation to ensure transparency and accountability in major actions.”

The letter concluded by asking Carr to answer four different questions about the deal and its approval process in writing, no later than April 13.

Read the full letter here.

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