State AGs Are Taking on Big Corporations Where Trump's Regime Won't (5/12/26)

Make sure they've got the resources they need. Plus pushing back against transphobia and censorship, challenge Trump's arch and more

May 12, 2026

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☎️ We’ve learned the hard way how important state supreme courts are… let’s help pick up two seats in Georgia a week from today! We can take a phonebank shift with Fair Count to help turn out voters tonight from 6-8PM ET here, make calls any time here, and find more ways to join the fight here ☎️

TOO LONG, DIDN’T READ
State AGs are stepping up where Trump’s DoJ is too corrupted to enforce antitrust laws - urge our legislators to fund their work, demand more of them join the push against the Nexstar-Tegna merger
Oppose a national “Don’t Say Trans” and forced outing law
Commissioner accuses FCC of “sustained campaign of censorship” - time to put teeth behind our demands for change
Oppose putting warnings on trans stories on TV by May 22nd
Tell the Commission of Fine Arts we object to Trump scarring DC with his vanity arch
Civil rights groups to hold protest in Montgomery Saturday, plus launch call for this July’s Good Trouble Lives On weekend of action Thursday at 7PM ET

If you have questions, comments, and especially submissions for actions, please email us at roganslisttips@gmail.com!

Facebook psot from 101.1 WJRR - The Rock Station on April 16th. It's a picture of the Live Nation headquarters with the headline verdict rules in favor of 33 states and the District of Columbia who filed the antitrust suit — Trump’s Justice Department gave up on holding Live Nation accountable. State attorneys general didn’t.

STATE AGS NEED RESOURCES TO FILL THE GAPS LEFT BY TRUMP CORRUPTION

The federal government has been captured by big corporations, and under the Trump regime it has reached the point of absurdity. They have effectively abandoned the job of enforcing our antitrust laws, clearing the path for mega-mergers and further corporate consolidation. And we’re getting caught in the crossfire, subject to the whims of a smaller and smaller number of CEOs on the number of choices we have and the quality and cost of whatever we’re buying.

Here’s the good news: state attorneys generals, particularly but not limited to the Democrats, have taken up the battle Trump’s henchmen are too corrupted to fight:

When the DoJ settled their monopolization claims against Live Nation, 32 states ignored their pressure to do the same and continued the case.
13 states led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta have sued to block the merger between Nexstar Media and Tegna, which Trump got his FCC chair Brendan Carr to approve in spite of it blatantly violating rules stopping a single entity from owning television stations reaching more than 39% of all American households. A judge has temporarily barred them from moving forward.
A group of AGs are investigating the Paramount-Warner Brothers merger.
13 Democratic AGs have sued to block a Trump administration antitrust settlement with Hewlett Packard that permitted their merger with Juniper Networks.

This is not an easy job. States will need to build the capacity and bring in more expertise for this level of enforcement. It will not be cheap. If they’re going to do it effectively, we are going to need them to work together, and we’re going to need to make sure they have the financial resources required to take on corporate giants in court.

🗣️ Let’s reach out to our state legislators and governors and urge them to appropriate money designated for our attorneys general to work in coalition with other states on antitrust suits. We can find scripts and email language here. We can also send them this message directly via Resistbot by texting SIGN PTLZXS to 50409. 🗣️

FIGHT CORPORATE GREED

We can also specifically take action to support the work against the Nexstar-Tegna merger, which is one a lot of folks who are concerned about our media environments have flagged. As the Media and Democracy Project wrote: “such mergers have historically resulted in layoffs that diminish local news capacity and reduce the variety of local content. That content is then replaced by homogenous programming that doesn’t meet the community’s needs. And analyses have shown that the largest US media companies tend to compromise their editorial position to align with those of politicians in power.”

🗣️ MAD is urging us to reach out to our state attorneys general about this case. If they’ve joined the lawsuit (list here), let’s thank them for doing so. If not, let’s urge them to do so now - we can read more here. 🗣️

STOP THE NEXSTAR-TEGNA MERGER

A NATIONAL DON’T SAY TRANS LAW BEFORE THE HOUSE

Republicans have been unwilling to do anything about skyrocketing gas, housing and health care being unaffordable, Trump’s wars and tariffs or the domination of our society by the billionaires. As far as they’re concerned, the biggest problem this nation faces is the existence and acknowledgment of trans people.

In early April, the House GOP led by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MN) introduced H.R. 2616, a national Don’t Say Trans and forced outing bill. If passed, educators would be required to disclose a student’s gender identity to their legal guardians and obtain the guardian’s consent before allowing them access to appropriate bathrooms or even calling them by their chosen name and pronouns. Schools wouldn’t even be able to discuss gender identity or sexual orientation with their students – acknowledging a student or teacher is LGBTQ+ would cost them federal funding. The legislation was recently reported out by the House Rules Committee and can now be considered in a full floor vote.

🗣️ Let’s reach out to our members of Congress and let them know we want them to say no to this attack on trans kids. We can find call scripts from 5Calls here and an email tool from Advocates for Trans Equality here. 🗣️

PROTECT *ALL* OUR KIDS

FCC COMMISSIONER OPENLY CALLS OUT WEAPONIZATION OF FCC

MAGA’s chief censor, FCC chairman Brendan Carr, has renewed his attacks on ABC in the wake of Trump getting angry at another Jimmy Kimmel joke, ordering an early review of ABC’s eight local broadcasting licenses. The Commission’s only remaining Democrat, Anna Gomez, has excoriated the move as “unprecedented, unlawful and going nowhere,” and flatly stated the network is the target of a “sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control.” (ABC is also being threatened with an investigation of The View over violations of the equal time rule, leading the network to explicitly accuse the FCC of chilling protected speech.)

Massachusetts’ Ed Markey and other leading Senate Democrats have demanded Carr end this “review.” We need to put some teeth behind that. 🗣️ Let’s again contact our members of Congress and tell them they should not approve funding for the FCC as long as Carr and MAGA are using it as a weapon. We can find scripts and language to use here, or send this message directly by texting SIGN PXUNHW to 50409. 🗣️

DEFUND BRENDAN CARR

FCC WANTS TO “WARN” US ABOUT LGBTQ+ CONTENT

Speaking of the FCC and the trans community, Brendan Carr has found time in his busy schedule of silencing dissent to come after marginalized communities, too. His FCC is considering creating a TV new ratings system that would alert viewers to “transgender and gender non-binary programming” and “the discussion and promotion of gender identity themes,” targeting the stories of those outside the gender binary.

This is yet another example of dangerous government overreach that will stifle independent and free media, and one that aims to further stigmatize and dehumanize our trans siblings, suggesting they are something we need to be protected from. They are accepting public comments on this proposal until May 22nd. ✍️ Let’s make our opposition to putting warning labels on the LGBTQ+ community heard. We can submit comments here and find talking points and guidance on how to object effectively from GLAAD here. ✍️

TRANS STORIES AREN'T DANGEROUS

Thanks to Rogan’s List reader Natasha Y for flagging!

STOP TRUMP’S ‘TRIUMPHAL ARCH’

President Donald Trump’s design for the Triumphal Arch he wants built at an entrance to the nation’s capital moved a step forward Thursday after a key agency, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, reviewed the proposal for the first time. ✍️ Let’s help stop his hideous and expensive vanity project by writing to the Commission. We can find contact information and a sample letter from the National Trust for Historic Preservation opposing the project to work off of here. ✍️

SAVE THE DC SKYLINE

ALL ROADS LEAD TO THE SOUTH SATURDAY AND MOBILIZATIONS TO COME

Republicans have moved with lightning speed to take advantage of Jim Crow’s victory over the Voting Rights Act, having already approved new maps erasing Black-majority congressional districts in Tennessee and Alabama. They’ve also canceled a primary with votes already cast to clear the way to do the same in Louisiana, and a measure to delay votes in South Carolina is advancing.

There is a lot of work ahead of us to repair the damage that’s being done (we can find folks doing the work to support here and some asks for blue state leaders here and here). Civil rights organizations headed up by Black Voters Matter are working to signal that they’re fully committed to a multi-generational fight, holding a national day of action in Montgomery, Alabama this Saturday at 1:00PM. They’re also planning on organizing satellite actions in at least 12 other states (California, Florida, Illinois Kentucky, Lousiana, Maryland, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia). 🪧 If we’re able to make the trip, we can find details on how to do so here – including busses from across Alabama and the South. We can also find graphics to help promote this action and updates on local events at allroadsleadtothesouth.com. 🪧

ALL ROADS LEAD TO THE SOUTH SATURDAY

Civil rights organizations led by the Transformative Justice Coalition are also getting going on planning for this year’s national mobilization for the vote in honor of the late John Lewis, the Good Trouble Lives On Weekend of Action, coming July 17th-19th. 🙋🏻 They’re holding a launch call for these events and collective action THURSDAY at 7PM ET. We can sign up to join them here. 🙋🏿

LEARN MORE ABOUT GOOD TROUBLE LIVES ON

Finally, if we’re ready to get to work right now helping to turn out folks in spite of the vote suppression, we’ve got opportunities to textbank this week! 💬 VoteRiders is reaching out to at-risk voters in Georgia and Pennsylvania on Thursday, also at 7PM ET. We can sign up to join them here. 💬

REACH AT-RISK VOTERS

👀 KEEPING AN EYE ON… 👀

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