ABC is pushing back against the Trump administration's FCC probe into The View, refusing to capitulate to Chairman Brendan Carr's investigation into whether the show violated the equal-time rule. The network filed a formal response claiming the FCC is violating the First Amendment with actions that "threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice."

The View has historically been exempt from the equal-time rule as a bona fide news program since a 2002 FCC determination. ABC argues the FCC exceeded its authority by demanding a new ruling on the show's status and ordering early review of ABC's broadcast licenses, especially after Trump and Melania Trump publicly called for Jimmy Kimmel's firing over a joke.

ABC claims the FCC is engaging in viewpoint discrimination and retaliatory targeting, noting the agency hasn't extended its equal-time enforcement to conservative talk radio shows. Legal experts and free speech groups support ABC's position, with one advocacy group praising the network for choosing "courage over capitulation" against government attempts to dictate permissible viewpoints.