The Walt Disney Company and ABC have filed a federal lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission, accusing the agency of violating the First Amendment by targeting the network over programming and editorial decisions disliked by President Donald Trump’s administration. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., marks a major escalation in the increasingly tense relationship between Disney and the Trump administration.

At the center of the dispute is an unusual decision by the FCC to begin reviewing the broadcast licenses of eight Disney-owned ABC stations years ahead of schedule. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr ordered the reviews in April, despite the stations’ licenses not being due for renewal until 2028. According to Reuters, the FCC had not required such an early review in more than 50 years.

Disney argues the move is not a routine regulatory action, but retaliation for ABC programming that has angered Trump and other members of his administration. In its complaint, the company alleges that the administration has repeatedly criticized ABC’s reporting and commentary before escalating to threats against the network’s broadcast licenses. Disney claims the FCC is now using its regulatory authority to pressure the company into changing what appears on its network.

The dispute intensified earlier this year following comments made by Jimmy Kimmel Live! host Jimmy Kimmel. After Kimmel made a joke that angered Trump, the president publicly called for ABC to fire the late-night host. The FCC ordered the early license reviews shortly afterward. ABC has characterized the timing as evidence that the reviews are politically motivated, while the FCC has maintained that the two events are unrelated.

ABC has also faced scrutiny from the FCC over The View. The agency opened an investigation into whether the daytime talk show should be subject to federal equal-time rules requiring broadcasters to provide political candidates with comparable opportunities to appear on television. ABC has previously argued that The View qualifies for the exemption given to bona fide news programming. Since February, however, the show has reportedly avoided inviting political candidates while the dispute continues.

Disney’s lawsuit says the combination of the license reviews, the investigation into The View and repeated public threats from Trump has created a wider pressure campaign against ABC. The company argues that allowing the government to use broadcast licensing against networks because of unfavorable journalism or political commentary could have consequences extending far beyond Disney, potentially discouraging other media organizations from airing criticism of an administration.

The FCC has rejected Disney’s allegations. The agency says broadcasters using public airwaves are legally required to operate in the public interest and pointed to an existing investigation into whether Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies involved unlawful discrimination. Disney denies those allegations and has argued that the investigation is another part of the government’s wider pressure campaign.

Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez has openly sided with Disney on the broader First Amendment issue, accusing the commission of using the possibility of license revocations to pressure ABC over speech the administration dislikes. She praised Disney for challenging the agency in court and said broadcasters should resist political intimidation.

Disney and ABC are asking the court for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would stop the FCC from moving forward with the early license proceedings. The public comment period has already ended, meaning the commission could potentially take further action at any time. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan has instructed Disney and the FCC to propose a schedule for considering the request and ordered the agency to notify the court if it begins proceedings that could threaten ABC’s licenses.

The case represents one of Disney’s strongest legal challenges to the Trump administration and could become an important test of how far federal regulators can go when scrutinizing broadcasters whose programming is critical of a sitting president. At its heart is a larger question over the boundary between the FCC’s authority to regulate public broadcast licenses and the First Amendment protections that prevent the government from punishing media companies for their editorial choices.

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