April 21, 2026 - WASHINGTON — On Monday, FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez issued the following statement after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California issued a preliminary injunction halting the unlawful Nexstar-TEGNA merger:

“I welcome the court's decision to pause this transaction and bring much-needed scrutiny to a deeply flawed approval process. What we saw here was a coordinated, multi-agency effort to avoid accountability and judicial review, culminating in a same-day clearance, approval, and closing designed to shield the public from the real harms of this unprecedented merger.

“The FCC and other government agencies have used what is now recognized as the Billionaire Buddy Bypass to grant expedited, closed-door approval to powerful friends of this administration. Today's ruling is an important step toward restoring accountability and ensuring that decisions of this magnitude are made with consumers in mind, not billion-dollar companies cutting backroom deals out of public view.”

Background: The Nexstar-TEGNA merger is the largest local broadcast television transaction in American history, combining the country's two largest station groups into a single company that would reach more than 80 percent of U.S. television households. The combined company would far exceed the FCC's 39 percent national ownership cap, a limit written into law to protect media diversity and local competition, and one the FCC had no legal authority to waive. Critics warn the deal would accelerate harmful consolidation at a time when local journalism is already under extraordinary strain, concentrating broadcast power in fewer corporate hands and shrinking independent editorial voices in communities across the country. The merger would also dramatically increase Nexstar's leverage in retransmission consent negotiations, driving up the fees providers must pay to carry local stations, costs that are ultimately passed on to consumers through higher monthly bills.

The FCC approved the transaction through a bureau-level process that bypassed a full commission vote, a move that drew bipartisan criticism. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell formally challenged the FCC over that approval, calling on the agency to answer for a process they said ignored questions about existing law, and lacked transparency and proper oversight.

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Office of Commissioner Anna M. Gomez: (202) 418-2100
ASL Videophone: (844) 432-2275
www.fcc.gov/leadership/anna-gomez

Source: FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez