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FCC launches effort to 'root out' DEI programs, beginning with Comcast

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FCC launches effort to 'root out' DEI programs, beginning with Comcast

The Federal Communications Commission has opened an inquiry into Comcast Corp.’s employee programs, stepping up efforts to “root out” diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that it said may violate equal employment laws.

Comcast is the first media company to face such an inquiry. The Philadelphia cable and television giant said in a statement that it would be “cooperating with the FCC to answer their questions.”

The move comes less than a month after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr took the helm of the agency that oversees communications policy and broadcast licenses.

Carr, who was elevated to the top role by President Trump, immediately dismantled the agency’s DEI programs, pulling the plug on budget expenditures and staff members dedicated to promoting inclusion.

In a letter to Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts on Tuesday, Carr wrote that his goal was to “ensure that your companies are not promoting invidious forms of discrimination in violation of FCC regulations and civil rights laws.”

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The landmark Communications Act and FCC rules forbid companies from “discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, or gender,” Carr reminded Roberts in the letter. The FCC chief acknowledged the probe was part of a broader effort to scrutinize workplace incentives within the companies he regulates to end “the scourge of DEI.”

Eliminating DEI efforts has been a top priority of the Trump administration. Trump has signed an executive order to demand merit-based opportunity across the private sector.

This week, Walt Disney Co. acknowledged softening some of its DEI policies, including retiring a “diversity and inclusion” performance factor in its executive compensation calculations.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, left, and FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, right, in a file photo.

(Jonathan Newton / Associated Press)

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The FCC review is starting at Comcast.

One possible reason is because the FCC has tremendous sway over Comcast’s businesses, including the company’s core cable and high-speed internet service, its wireless phone offerings and NBC-owned television stations, which require FCC licenses to operate.

“I expect that this investigation into Comcast and its NBCUniversal operations will aid the commission’s broader efforts to root out invidious forms of DEI discrimination across all of the sectors the FCC regulates,” Carr wrote.

Carr took aim at Comcast’s statements about its embrace of diversity programs.

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“For instance, Comcast states on its website that promoting DEI is ‘a core value of our business’ and public reports state that Comcast has an entire ‘DEI infrastructure’ that includes annual ‘DEI day[s],’ ‘DEI training for company leaders,’ and similar initiatives,” Carr wrote. “NBCUniversal has similar DEI initiatives, including executives specifically dedicated to promoting DEI across the TV and programming side of the business.”

Comcast has a page on its website that outlines its philosophy on inclusion:

“We believe that a diverse, equitable, and inclusive company is a more innovative and successful one,” the company said. “Across our workforce, products, and content, we embrace diversity of background, perspective, culture, and experience, and together with our partners, we are working to fight injustice against any race, ethnicity, gender or sexual identity, disability, or veteran status.”

Following the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd in 2020, senior NBCUniversal executive Cesar Conde set a goal of having a 50% nonwhite workforce within NBC News.

“We want to increase diversity and inclusion both in front of and behind the camera, and earn the trust of every community in America that relies on us for exceptional journalism,” Conde said at the time.

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Last month, Carr revived complaints that alleged liberal media bias at CBS, NBC and ABC. Throughout the campaign, Trump railed against certain broadcasters, saying the FCC should yank their broadcast licenses.

One of the complaints targeted NBC for featuring former Vice President Kamala Harris in a “Saturday Night Live” skit four days before the November election, saying the network wasn’t providing equal access to Trump. A second complaint took issue with ABC News’ handling of the September Trump-Harris debate. Trump complained that ABC anchors were unfair to him.

The FCC inquiry has raised the stakes in a separate dispute between Trump and CBS. Trump and his supporters cried foul over the Harris “60 Minutes” interview in October, pointing to discrepancies between Harris’ answers in the two interview segments. CBS has defended its edits, saying they routinely condense quotes.

Trump has sued CBS for $20 billion. Paramount Global Chairwoman Shari Redstone has advocated settling the Trump lawsuit. The issue has clouded Paramount’s proposed $8-billion sale to David Ellison’s Skydance Media firm, a deal that hinges on the approval of the FCC’s Carr.

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New Jersey governor to launch portal for uploading videos of ICE tactics: ‘They have not been forthcoming’

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New Jersey governor to launch portal for uploading videos of ICE tactics: ‘They have not been forthcoming’

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New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, announced that state officials will launch a portal allowing residents to upload photos and videos of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducting federal operations.

Sherrill revealed the initiative during a Wednesday appearance on The Daily Show, Comedy Central’s nightly comedy news program.

“If you see an ICE agent in the street, get your phone out, we want to know,” Sherrill said.

“They have not been forthcoming,” the governor continued. “They will pick people up, they will not tell us who they are, they will not tell us if they’re here legally, they won’t check. They’ll pick up American citizens. They picked up a five-year-old child. We want documentation, and we are going to make sure we get it.”

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MARYLAND DEMOCRAT’S BILL SEEKS TO ‘DIGITALLY UNMASK’ ICE AGENTS AFTER FATAL MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced that state officials will launch a portal allowing residents to upload videos of ICE operations. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Sherill said her administration will soon be launching a portal so New Jersey residents “can upload all their cell phone videos and alert people” about local immigration operations.

A spokesperson for the governor, Sean Higgins, said Sherill’s administration will release further details in the coming days.

“Keeping New Jerseyans safe is Governor Sherrill’s top priority and, in the coming days, she and Acting Attorney General Davenport will announce additional actions to protect New Jerseyans from federal overreach,” Higgins said in a statement.

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Sherrill also said that her administration intends to provide information to educate New Jerseyans on their rights in the state.

GOP LAWMAKER RENEWS OVERSIGHT HEARING REQUEST OF DHS AGENCIES FOLLOWING FATAL SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said her administration will be launching a portal so New Jersey residents “can upload all their cell phone videos and alert people” about immigration operations. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

New York Attorney General Letitia James launched a similar portal in her state in October, saying state officials would review the videos and images uploaded to the portal to determine whether immigration agents violated the law. California officials also opened a portal last month for residents to report possible unlawful acts by ICE agents.

Some grassroots groups across the country have also been warning community members of reports of ICE activity, so migrants can avoid the area.

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This comes after two killings of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month. Both shootings were recorded by bystanders and sparked unrest in Minnesota and across the country.

Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis, and Border Patrol agents on Saturday fatally shot Alex Pretti while he was recording immigration enforcement operations in the same city.

Pretti, an ICU nurse, appeared to be attempting to assist a woman agents had knocked down when he was sprayed with an irritant, pushed to the ground and beaten, according to video and witness accounts. An agent was later seen pulling Pretti’s lawfully owned firearm from his waistband before other agents fired several shots, killing him.

Two killings of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month that were recorded by bystanders. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Sherrill also compared ICE to secret police forces she observed in other countries when she served in the Navy.

“We saw people in the street with masks and no insignia. So not accountable at all, hiding from the population – and we saw again and again an undermining of what law enforcement should do to keep people safe,” she said on Wednesday.

Democrats in Congress and in various state legislatures have sought for months to adopt measures that would ban immigration agents from wearing masks to hide their identities, arguing that such legislation is needed to ensure transparency.

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Planned Parenthood, reproductive healthcare could receive $90 million in new state funding

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Planned Parenthood, reproductive healthcare could receive  million in new state funding

California lawmakers will consider bolstering funding for Planned Parenthood and other providers of reproductive health with a one-time infusion of $90 million, leaders of the state Legislature announced Friday.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) and Senate President Monique Limón (D-Goleta) said the money would give grants to providers that were affected by recent federal cuts passed by President Trump and the Republican-led Congress that targeted abortion providers. The funding is included in a proposed bill being considered by state lawmakers.

“Trump and his Republican enablers have waged an all-out assault on women — attacking abortion access, family-planning and reproductive health,” Rivas said in a Friday statement. “Outrage alone won’t stop it. When Trump strips funding, California will continue to act.”

The Republican-backed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed last year by Trump, prohibited federal Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood. California and a coalition of other Democrat-led states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration last year over the provision.

More than 80% of the nearly 1.3 million annual patient visits to Planned Parenthood in California were previously reimbursed by Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid, which provides healthcare coverage to low-income Americans.

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In his recent budget proposal, Gov. Gavin Newsom allotted $60 million for reproductive healthcare. His proposal serves as a starting point for state budget negotiations.

Planned Parenthood offers a range of services, including abortions, birth control, cancer screenings and testings for sexually transmitted diseases.

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Video: Don Lemon And Others Arrested Over Minnesota Church Protest

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Video: Don Lemon And Others Arrested Over Minnesota Church Protest

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Don Lemon And Others Arrested Over Minnesota Church Protest

Don Lemon and three others, including the independent journalist Georgia Fort, were arrested on charges that they had violated federal law during the church protest in St. Paul, Minn., this month.

“How can you be a pastor? Of a church, but overseeing ICE agents in the field?” “You guys, I wanted to alert the public that agents are at my door right now. My children are here. They’re impacted by this. This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media. We are supposed to have our constitutional right of the freedom to film, to be a member of the press.”

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Don Lemon and three others, including the independent journalist Georgia Fort, were arrested on charges that they had violated federal law during the church protest in St. Paul, Minn., this month.

By McKinnon de Kuyper

January 30, 2026

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