U.S. Congress

House lawmaker moves to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
The impeachment effort follows Republican losses in the 2026 midterm elections, which will give Democrats control of both chambers of Congress in January.

Congressional Democrats likely to probe media mergers, antitrust scrutiny
Democratic lawmakers are preparing federal subpoenas in more than 200 possible probes, with some media-related transactions likely to draw scrutiny on antitrust grounds.
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Cruz reschedules hearing date for Severs nomination to FCC
Severs, a senior advisor to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, was nominated in August to fill the seat vacated by former Republican Commissioner Nathan Simington.

Publishers push for new law banning bot-based AI scraping
The proposed law gives publishers greater control of how and when robots access their materials, and allows the FTC and others to bring litigation against bad actors.

FCC Commissioner-nominee Danielle Severs gets Thursday hearing date
If confirmed, Severs will serve a five-year term under FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, but the term will be backdated to July 2024.

Tech companies form new lobbying group to press for streaming-friendly policies
Netflix, Amazon's Prime Video and Google's YouTube are founding members of the Streaming Access and Choice Alliance, which will lobby lawmakers for favorable policy.

House schedules vote on bill requiring AM radio in new vehicles
Broadcasters argue AM radio remains important for emergency alerts, news and local information; critics say a legal mandate will cause car prices to rise even more.
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Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin warns FCC against probe into ABC’s TV licenses
Raskin said federal lawmakers might bring more heat to the FCC in the future if it continues to carry out politically-motivated attacks against broadcasters.

APTS criticizes Congress for failing to restore funding to educational TV initiative
The program, called Ready to Learn, was dependent upon grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which dried up last year.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to skip Congressional hearing on media deals
A lawyer for the NFL said ongoing litigation concerning the topic of the hearing required Commissioner Goodell to exempt himself from testifying later this month.

Congress asks NFL’s Goodell to testify on broadcast TV deals
The summons comes at a time when federal lawmakers are questioning whether the NFL and other leagues should maintain carve-out exemptions to antitrust laws.

Bill forcing AM radio tuners in cars gets second wind
A bill that would force AM radio tuners in cars sold in the U.S. was revived this week after it was included in a broader transportation appropriations measure.
