Senate Commerce Leaders Grill FCC Chair Over Unilateral Approval of Nexstar-Tegna Merger

The head of the Federal Communications Commission is under direct scrutiny from powerful US senators for bypassing the full commission to approve a major media merger. In a formal letter sent Monday, the ranking members of the Senate Commerce Committee challenged FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel's decision to fast-track the $5.4 billion acquisition of Tegna Inc. by Nexstar Media Group without a vote, a move that sidesteps the agency's standard regulatory process.

The senators' inquiry centers on the procedural anomaly and its implications for media consolidation oversight. The deal, which would create the nation's largest local TV station owner, was approved under a delegated authority process typically reserved for routine matters. This allowed it to proceed without the public deliberation and recorded vote of the five-member commission, raising immediate questions about transparency and the thoroughness of the review for a transaction of this scale and market impact.

The letter signals mounting political pressure on the FCC's leadership and could prompt a broader examination of the agency's internal approval mechanisms. The scrutiny places the Nexstar-Tegna merger—and the regulatory posture that enabled it—into a contentious political spotlight, with potential fallout for future media consolidation reviews and the commission's operational independence.