Dem senators call on FCC to pause Paramount-Warner Bros deal on national security grounds

Media Dem senators call on FCC to pause Paramount-Warner Bros deal on national security grounds Comments: by Sophie Brams - 06/19/26 11:03 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Sophie Brams - 06/19/26 11:03 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Three Democratic senators are pressing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to halt a merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, warning that the deal could pose a national security risk due to the involvement of foreign investors.

Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) urged FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in a joint letter on Thursday to “block any premature closing” of the merger until a full review of foreign ownership interests is completed.

“That review must rigorously assess the national security threats posed by foreign government investment in one of the nation’s largest news media companies,” they wrote.

The senators cited financial disclosures showing that foreign investors would hold an approximately 49.5 percent ownership stake in the combined company once the deal closes.

Paramount told the FCC in April that non-U.S. investors included several entities based in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, but maintained it would not present “any national security, law enforcement, foreign policy, or trade policy” concerns.

The senators argued that Carr should not take the company’s representations “at face value” and deny its petition for preemptive approval to exceed foreign ownership limits.

“The Gulf sovereign wealth funds collectively represent the financial instruments of three foreign governments with distinct national interests and shared record of censorship and press suppression,” they wrote, adding that it would be “nearly double the statutory threshold.”

Foreign ownership of media companies is regulated under Section 310 of the 1934 Communications Act, which generally prohibits foreign individuals, government and corporations from directly or indirectly owning more than 25 percent of a U.S.-based entity that controls an FCC-issued broadcast or radio license.

The Justice Department approved Paramount’s $110 billion bid to acquire the movie and television industry giant last week, clearing a key regulatory hurdle in the merger process.

Officials said a monthslong analysis determined that the transaction was “not likely” to reduce competition or harm consumers as it related to on-demand video streaming, linear television and studio development, production and distribution of films.

That argument had served as the basis for opposition to the merger from more than 1,000 professionals in the entertainment industry, including major Hollywood stars, who signed an open letter this spring criticizing it.

“This transaction would further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape, reducing competition at a moment when our industries—and the audiences we serve—can least afford it,” the group wrote.

Booker, Schiff and Warren issued a July 1 deadline for Carr to formally notify that Paramount that the deal “may not close” while reviews are pending, among other demands.