UPDATED, with FCC comment: ABC is pushing back on the regulatory threats of Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, arguing that the agency’s effort to impose restrictions on political candidate appearances on talk shows like The View chill its First Amendment rights.

In a 52-page filing with the agency on Thursday, the network said that “some may dislike certain—or even most—of the viewpoints expressed on The View or similar shows. Such dislike, however, cannot justify using regulatory processes to restrict those views.”

The filing stems from Carr’s investigation into The View, launched after it featured James Talarico, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from Texas, as a guest.

The FCC’s equal time rule requires broadcasters featuring candidates to offer rivals similar broadcast opportunities — if that time is requested. For decades, though, talk shows have booked candidates with the near certainty that they fall under an exemption to the equal time rule, carved out for news programming. But earlier this year, the FCC’s media bureau under Carr has warned that talk shows should not assume that they fall under the exemption, putting such programming under a new level of scrutiny.

Donald Trump‘s White House has attacked The View and one of its co-hosts, Joy Behar.

ABC said in the filing, “The danger is that the government will simply decide which perspectives to regulate and which to leave undisturbed. In fact, while the Commission now questions The View’s decades-long exemption, it has not expressed any inclination to apply a similar interpretation of the equal opportunities rule to other broadcasters, including the many voices—conservative and liberal—on broadcast radio.”

Carr has targeted daytime and late-night talk shows in the equal time crackdown, but he has said little of radio broadcasters, where conservative hosts routinely feature Republican candidates for office. Sean Hannity’s radio show featured Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate in Texas for the U.S. Senate, last December. The equal time rule applies to TV and radio, although the rule does not extend to streaming and only in more limited ways to cable and satellite.

ABC said in its filing that “such a clear disparity in the treatment of broadcasters that ought to be subject to the same treatment under law raises serious concerns about viewpoint discrimination and retaliatory targeting.”

Carr has not fully explained why he has gone after TV talk shows and not radio, even though he has said that the rule would apply “across the board.” He also didn’t rule out consideration of a talk host’s political donations or other partisan activity in considering whether the exemption applies.

In January, the FCC’s media bureau announced the new guidance for broadcasters featuring political candidates, making clear that shows like Jimmy Kimmel and The View may be on the hook for equal time. Broadcasters only have to provide the time if requested by rival campaigns and do not have to offer it on the exact same show, only comparable exposure. But providing such time can prove cumbersome, ABC noted in its filing, calling it “infeasible.” As an example, they pointed to California’s gubernatorial primary, which has 60 qualified candidates who each could demand time.

ABC’s filing went beyond the legal intricacies of the equal time rule, and the network suggested that it was being singled out for regulatory rigamarole over disfavored speech. The network wrote that “as a broad array of voices, including many conservatives, have recognized, if the government is allowed to discriminate on the basis of viewpoint in a Republican administration, there is little preventing it from doing so when the Democrats are in charge.”

In February, the FCC sent a letter of inquiry to KTRK-TV in Houston, which is owned and operated by ABC, concerning Talarico’s Feb. 2 appearance on The View, asking them why no paperwork was filed about the candidate’s appearance, another equal-time requirement. The station took the position that the exemption still applied, but the FCC in March required the outlet to file a petition for a “declaratory ruling.” In its filing, ABC called such an action “unprecedented,” while pointing to a 2002 FCC ruling that confirmed that The View was exempt.

An FCC spokesperson said that they would review the ABC filing.

“Decades ago, Congress passed a law that generally prohibits broadcast television programs from putting a thumb on the scale in favor of one political candidate over another,” the spokesperson said.  “Specifically, Congress put protections in place to ensure that covered programs offer legally qualified candidates for office (both Republican and Democrat) equal time on the public airwaves.  The equal time law encourages more speech and empowers voters to decide the outcome of elections.”

Last month, in a separate order, Carr’s FCC informed the network that it would have to submit early license renewal applications for the eight broadcast station it owns. Although the FCC’s order cited its investigation into the network’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices, the move was widely seen as highly unusual. It also came just days after Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump called on the network to fire Kimmel over a joke he made the previous week.

ABC’s filing over The View noted the FCC early license renewal order, including that it had provided more than 10,000 pages of documents as part of the agency’s DEI investigation.

ABC also hinted a potential lawsuits. The network suggested that the various regulatory actions and investigations were “major shifts in policy and practice” that “requires the action of the full commission and the oversight of the courts.” Its filing was signed by Paul Clement, who served as solicitor general under George W. Bush and is well-known for his arguments before the Supreme Court.

The network stated in the filing, “Uncertainty as to the scope of broadcast licensees’ editorial discretion threatens to limit news coverage of political candidates and chill core First Amendment-protected speech for years and potentially decades to come. As the 2026 midterm election approaches, the American people need more access to political news and more exposure to political candidates, not less.”

Up to now, Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the commission, has been sharply critical of networks for not challenging Carr’s investigations, whether over equal time or program content. She has characterized Carr’s actions as hollow threats that ultimately would not stand up in court.

On Friday, she wrote on X, “The days of the FCC as a paper tiger are numbered. What the public will remember is who complied in advance and who fought back. I’m glad Disney is choosing courage over capitulation.”

Will Creeley, legal director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said, that ABC’s filing was “welcome and commendable. The Federal Communications Commission is not and cannot become the nation’s censor-in-chief, as its chairman once recognized. The First Amendment will protect the private institutions that fight back against the executive branch’s speech policing.”

The ABC filing also includes a declaration from Brian Teta, the executive producer of The View, noting, among other things, that the show falls under the network’s news division and noting that a number of Republicans have been invited on the show, yet have declined. They include JD Vance, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Lindsey Graham, Josh Hawley, Elon Musk, Kevin McCarthy and Marco Rubio, Tata wrote.

Teta also noted that Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), one of Talarico’s rivals in the Democratic primary, appeared on the show on Jan. 6. He wrote that the decision to book Talarico was based on newsworthiness, and was “not motivated by any intent to advance or harm any individual’s candidacy.”

Talarico was booked later in February on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, but that interview was aired on YouTube. On his show on Feb. 16, Colbert said that the network lawyers told him that Talarico could not appear out of the concerns over the equal time crackdown, although CBS has disputed that the candidate was banned from the broadcast. The interview ended up drawing more than 9 million views on YouTube.

This post was updated to clarify the ways that the equal time rule applies to other media, including streaming, cable and satellite.