Why is Kris Kobach working against the Trump agenda on local TV merger? | Opinion

For millions of older Americans, especially those living in rural communities on fixed incomes or without reliable broadband, over-the-air television is not a luxury. It is a lifeline. It carries the local news, emergency alerts and weather coverage that keep them safe and informed. It remains free and accessible — and for many older adults, it is irreplaceable.

While most American households now pay for some form of television through cable, satellite or streaming, older viewers who depend on a rooftop antenna or a pair of rabbit ears are watching the very same local stations, produced by the very same newsrooms, as everyone else.

That shared dependence is exactly why the health of local broadcasters matters so much. When the companies behind these stations are squeezed, newsrooms shrink, coverage thins — and the first things to disappear are often the costliest to produce: the statehouse reporter, the investigative team, the overnight crew that stays on air through a tornado warning. Paying subscribers feel that loss, but older Americans relying on free TV feel it most acutely, because they have the fewest alternatives to turn to.

But Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach is now challenging the proposed merger of broadcasters Nexstar and TEGNA, despite federal regulators having already approved the deal as a way to help local broadcasters compete in today’s media marketplace. The merger would strengthen the companies that provide this essential service, building the kind of scale that local broadcasters need to compete over the long term in a media landscape now dominated by streaming giants and social media giants.

The deal has already cleared the federal government’s most rigorous reviews. The Federal Communications Commission approved the combination, with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr noting that the decision reflects “the media marketplace that exists today — not the one from decades past.” The U.S. Department of Justice cleared it as well. By every measure that matters, this deal was vetted, approved and given the green light to move forward by the Trump administration’s leading regulatory and legal experts.

So it was alarming to learn that a group of state attorneys general, including Kansas’ Kobach, has filed a lawsuit attempting to halt the deal — and even more shocking is that three of those AGs are Republicans.

This legal challenge was originally brought by eight liberal Democratic attorneys general whose track record of weaponizing the legal system against conservatives and the Trump agenda is well documented. We have come to expect this kind of frivolous political litigation from Democratic AGs as their default playbook against President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies. What we do not expect is conservative Republicans lining up alongside them to give that playbook bipartisan cover.

Republicans shouldn’t be providing political cover for the left. It hands the left a credibility it has not earned, validates a strategy aimed squarely at President Trump, and leaves voters wondering whose side their elected officials are actually on.

Attempting to block a deal that has all federal approvals in place, particularly one designed to prop up local broadcasters, Attorney General Kobach is not only directly opposing the Trump administration’s pro-growth agenda, but he’s also putting at risk the long term health of the local news in Kansas and elsewhere count on for their daily news, their severe weather warnings and their connection to the communities around them.

Voters rely on their attorney general to fight important legal battles, and this one just doesn’t make sense to Kansas conservatives.

We are asking AG Kobach and other attorneys general respectfully to reconsider, and refocus on outcomes that actually serve the people they were elected to protect, especially the older adults who stand to lose the most if local broadcasting continues to weaken. Communities need reliable news when a storm is coming, a trusted voice when their community is in crisis, and the simple assurance that the television signal reaching their living room will still be there tomorrow.

The right path forward is not political litigation. It’s leadership that strengthens the institutions older Americans rely on, before that lifeline goes dark.

Saul Anuzis is president of the 60 Plus Association, a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) nonprofit that advocates for seniors who believe in market-based solutions and are dedicated to protecting your right to freedom of speech and limited but effective government.