Senate Commerce Committee leaders Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., have demanded answers from Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr over the agency's approval of Nexstar's $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna.
The decision has sparked legal challenges, industry backlash, and renewed scrutiny of federal media ownership rules.
In a strongly worded March 30 letter to Carr, Cruz, the committee chair, and Cantwell, its ranking member, questioned why the agency used its Media Bureau — rather than the full commission — to approve what they described as a sweeping and unprecedented transaction.
"We write regarding the Commission's March 19th approval of Nexstar Media Group's acquisition of Tegna on delegated authority," the senators stated, warning that the move "raises serious concerns about the Commission's use of delegated authority in matters involving significant legal, policy, and economic consequences."
The FCC's March 19 decision cleared the way for Nexstar to create the largest local broadcast television group in U.S. history.
According to the letter, the combined company would control 259 full-power television stations across 44 states, reaching nearly 80% of U.S. television households — even after required divestitures.
Lawmakers emphasized that the scale of the deal — not to mention the FCC's effort to circumvent the law — should have triggered a vote by the full commission rather than a bureau-level decision.
"A transaction of this magnitude alone warranted consideration and a vote by the full Commission," Cruz and Cantwell wrote, adding that approving it at the staff level risks rendering any subsequent commission vote "largely procedural rather than a genuine exercise of Commission responsibility."
At the heart of the dispute is the FCC's decision to grant Nexstar a waiver of the statutory 39% national audience reach cap — long established by Congress to limit consolidation in broadcast television.
The senators warned that the agency's action effectively sidestepped congressional law, saying the approval included "an expansive waiver of the 39 percent national audience reach cap — a statutory limit set by Congress — despite ongoing debate about the Commission's authority to modify or circumvent that cap."
In addition to the national cap waiver, the order also granted exemptions from local ownership rules, allowing Nexstar to control three major full-power stations in certain markets — another move critics say stretches the regulations beyond precedent.
Cruz and Cantwell argued that these were not routine decisions but "substantial departures from existing rules" involving "significant and unresolved legal questions."
The FCC's furtive approval has already triggered a wave of legal and regulatory challenges.
Last week DirecTV secured a temporary restraining order in federal court aimed at halting the merger, arguing that the transaction would distort retransmission consent negotiations and harm distributors and consumers.
The restraining order represents one of the first major judicial interventions tied to the deal.
At the same time, eight states led by California have moved to block or review the merger, raising antitrust and consumer protection concerns tied to increased consolidation in local media markets.
Industry opposition has also intensified.
Newsmax, in filings with six cable industry associations, argued in a separate federal court action that the FCC's decision violates the national ownership cap and undermines long-standing protections designed to preserve competition and viewpoint diversity.
Those filings echo broader concerns that the transaction concentrates too much control over local news and programming in a single company.
Beyond the substance of the ruling, Cruz and Cantwell raised alarms about the procedural implications of the FCC's approach — particularly its impact on judicial review.
Because the decision was issued at the bureau level, parties seeking to challenge it must first petition the full commission before going to court. That delay, the senators warned, could allow the merger to proceed to a point where unwinding it becomes impractical.
"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," they wrote.
The lawmakers suggested that such a process could undermine transparency and accountability in major regulatory decisions.
The letter also raises broader questions about the limits of delegated authority within the FCC and the precedent this decision may set.
"If a transaction of this scale, involving statutory caps and waivers across dozens of markets, can be resolved at the bureau level, it is unclear what types of decisions still require Commission-level review," the senators warned.
They pointed to past instances where FCC leadership opted for full commission votes on similarly complex transactions, arguing that consistency and accountability demand the same approach here.
Cruz and Cantwell also pressed Carr to explain what "limiting principle" would govern future use of delegated authority, signaling concern that the Nexstar decision could open the door to staff-level approvals of other major media mergers.
The Nexstar-Tegna approval has quickly become one of the most contentious media policy decisions in recent years, drawing bipartisan scrutiny in Congress and strong reactions across the broadcasting and cable industries.
"Brendan Carr has been working closely with Nexstar, one of the most liberal TV groups in the nation, to give them illegal and unprecedented reach in perhaps one of the sneakiest merger approvals ever contemplated," Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said.
"It's no surprise a federal judge took the highly unusual step of immediately stopping this kangaroo FCC approval that included no real Justice Department review," Ruddy added.
Newsmax has noted that Nexstar owns the left-wing NewsNation channel, whose prime time is led by former CNN host Chris Cuomo.
Major conservative organizations such as CPAC, the National Religious Broadcasters, and the Zionist Organization of America have joined the legal fight and filed amicus briefs with Newsmax's suit arguing the approval was illegal and the court should stay the merger.
With federal court challenges underway, state actions advancing, and congressional oversight intensifying, the future of the merger — and the FCC's authority to reshape media ownership rules — remains uncertain.
Cruz and Cantwell have given the FCC until April 13 to respond to their questions, setting up what could be a pivotal next phase in the battle over one of the largest broadcast mergers in U.S. history.
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