FCC's Carr Rejects CBS Dismissal Request

The FCC has rejected CBS's request to dismiss a complaint regarding a "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which aired in October 2024. 

The complaint, initially filed by the conservative group Center for American Rights, alleges that CBS engaged in "news distortion" by editing Harris's responses to a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a way that presented different answers across two broadcasts—"Face the Nation" and "60 Minutes." This editing has been at the center of a broader controversy, including a $10 billion lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against CBS, claiming the network manipulated the interview to favor Harris during the 2024 presidential election campaign.

CBS has consistently defended its actions, arguing that the edits were standard journalistic practice aimed at ensuring clarity and fitting time constraints, not distorting the news. The network urged the FCC to dismiss the complaint, asserting that the agency lacks the authority to regulate editorial decisions in broadcast news and that any intervention would violate First Amendment protections. On March 25, 2025, CBS reiterated this stance, stating there was no evidence of intentional distortion and calling for an immediate dismissal.

However, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has kept the investigation active. On Tuesday, Carr told Reuters that the FCC was not close to dismissing the complaint, signaling an ongoing review. This decision followed the FCC's earlier move in January 2025 to reinstate the complaint—originally dismissed by the previous FCC chair, Jessica Rosenworcel, on January 16, 2025—after Carr took over leadership. The FCC has since released unedited transcripts and video of the interview on February 5, 2025, to allow public scrutiny, a move criticized by some, including FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, as politicizing the agency’s enforcement actions.

The controversy stems from CBS airing two distinct portions of Harris’s response to the same question about U.S. influence over Netanyahu. In a "Face the Nation" preview, Harris gave a longer, less concise answer, while "60 Minutes" broadcast a shorter, more focused version. Critics, including Trump, allege this was a deliberate attempt to make Harris appear more coherent, while CBS maintains it was a routine edit. The FCC’s "news distortion" policy, which prohibits broadcasters from intentionally falsifying news, is narrow and requires clear evidence of deliberate manipulation—something CBS argues is absent here.