WASHINGTON—A federal judge has set a hearing in the ABC lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission for sometime in the week of October 5.
On August 18, ABC filed a lawsuit against the FCC in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit (Case #26-cv-2902). It also filed a motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction, saying the court’s intervention "is necessary to stop the [FCC’s] extraordinary assault on free speech."
FCC Chair Brendan Carr has called the suit “meritless.”
ABC had been seeking quick court action on the motion and had asked for a hearing as early as August 24.
U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan instead issued an order setting a hearing for sometime during the week of October 5. She said however that she would move the hearing on the Temporary Restraining Order up if the FCC took action in the proceedings.
The FCC took the ruling as a victory. “We are pleased that the judge has now rejected Disney’s meritless attempt to rush into court,” a FCC spokesperson said. “The court also sided with the FCC over Disney on the schedule going forward and has declined Disney’s request for an immediate injunction. The FCC will continue to follow the facts and the law wherever they lead.”
