The Democratic rout in the midterms was a referendum on President Trump, prices and the war in Iran. But it will have impacts that go well beyond the determinative issues — touching topics of key interest to Hollywood studios, broadcasters and their teams of government relations professionals. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the key open questions as Washington adjusts to a new, blue reality for the final two years of Trump.
Hollywood’s top legislative priority is to pass a federal tax incentive by the end of the year. The bill is bipartisan — uniting Trump and Adam Schiff — so in theory, a looming change of party control shouldn’t affect it. But any disruption — and the election was a massive disruption — probably doesn’t help build momentum.
It also doesn’t help that Trump seems to be wavering, telling a rally last Friday that people in Hollywood are “all calling me kissing my ass” for tax credits. Should I do it?” he asked the crowd, which booed. Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, are in shock, and are turning their attention to recriminations and to a leadership race.
They could still get Hollywood tax credits done, but it’s not top of mind. For their part, House Democrats may want to hold off on any bipartisan deals until the next Congress, when they will hold all the leverage. Democrats are more supportive of Hollywood than Republicans are, so the odds may improve in the 120th Congress.
But that would require starting over. Out of the 31 Republican cosponsors in the House and Senate, 10 will not be back next year. The bill also benefits from the idea of a crisis requiring immediate action — which could be hard to sustain over a longer legislative process.
The president is focused on this. I wouldn’t want to see that bleed into next year.” Democratic control of Congress won’t flip the Federal Communications Commission. But it will lead to greater oversight of chairman Brendan Carr, who has spent the last two years jawboning broadcasters over Jimmy Kimmel’s jokes and launching inquiries into political commentary on “The View.” Democrats in Congress see Carr as a manifestation of Trump’s impulse to squelch opposing views, and are likely to use subpoena power to investigate past and future controversies.
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