“The FCC’s approval of the Paramount-Skydance merger reeks of the worst form of corruption,” Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) said in a joint statement. “The stench of this transaction will linger over the Commission for years.”

Paramount had said it expected to close the $8.4 billion merger in the first half of 2025. But the first half of the year came and went, and the merger remained under review by the FCC and its chair Brendan Carr, who had been appointed to the role earlier this year by President Trump.

The Federal Communications Commission has approved Skydance Media's $8 billion takeover of Paramount Global, which critics have blasted as a move to appease President Donald Trump.The FCC cleared the deal in a 2-1 partisan vote on