America First Legal (AFL), in conjunction with co-counsel Boyden Gray PLLC, has lodged a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The petition is on behalf of the National Religious Broadcasters and American Family Association, against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC has issued an order that allegedly unlawfully mandates television and radio stations in the United States to publicly disclose the race, ethnicity, and sex of their employees.
On February 22, 2024, the FCC declared its intention to start gathering "[d]ata concerning the gender, race, and ethnicity of a broadcast station’s workforce". It also stated that it would make submissions from each television and radio station publicly accessible. Despite this, the FCC did not provide a clear explanation for this data collection initiative. Instead, it vaguely hinted at using it "for purposes of analyzing industry trends and making reports to Congress."
The decision faced considerable opposition within the FCC itself. Two out of five FCC commissioners strongly dissented. Commissioner Brendan Carr criticized the move as succumbing "to the demands of activist groups." He further argued that "the FCC will now post a race and gender scorecard for each and every TV and radio broadcast station in the country…This is no benign disclosure regime."
AFL has been actively challenging what they perceive as discriminatory programs implemented by President Joe Biden's administration. In two notable victories, AFL successfully sued to have a racially discriminatory farm loan-forgiveness program repealed and managed to halt preferential treatment towards certain racial groups under the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
Gene Hamilton, America First Legal Executive Director stated: “The old saying ‘if the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail,’ could not be more fitting to describe the Biden Administration’s obsession with dividing Americans based on race and sex... We will fight its unlawful attempt to keep driving wedges between Americans and to subject our clients to illegal governmental mandates.”