{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/-icymi-judge-directs-paramount-state-ags-to-respond-to-booker-letter-challenging-paramount-warner-bros-discovery-merger-settlement", "ICYMI: Judge Directs Paramount, State AGs to Respond to Booker Letter Challenging Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger Settlement", "2026-09-25", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "NJ", "Cory A. Booker", "B001288", "www.booker.senate.gov", "booker", "https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press", "scraper", "Judge assigns \u201chomework:\u201d Respond to Booker\u2019s concerns about proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger settlement by Monday\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Cory Booker, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, is drawing attention following Thursday\u2019s hearing on the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger for sending a letter to District Judge Araceli Martinez- Olguin urging an independent public-interest review of the settlement, resulting in her specifically \u201cquestioning attorneys Thursday about concerns raised by Sen. Booker.\u201d In his letter, Booker urged the court to conduct an independent public-interest review of the agreement.\n\n\u201cThe proposed settlement has reached the Court without a competitive impact statement, without a public comment period, and without any formal opportunity for theaters, distributors, workers, or consumers to be heard,\u201d Booker wrote in his letter. \u201cThe Court should not approve this agreement without first ensuring that the public interest has been adequately considered.\u201d\n\nSEE FOR YOURSELF:\n\nVariety\n\nJudge Questions Legal Points of Paramount\u2019s Settlement With States at Hearing, Says a Ruling Will Come in \u2018Due Course\u2019 \u2014 Judge Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn requests parties submit replies to Sen. Booker's request for an independent public-interest review\n\nBy Todd Spangler\n\nSeptember 24, 2026\n\nBooker sent a letter Thursday urging the court to subject the settlement to an independent public-interest review before approving it, noting it reached the court without a competitive impact statement, public comment period, or chance for theaters, distributors, workers, or consumers to weigh in.\n\nParamount Skydance filed a brief opposing what it called Booker's improper \"pseudo-amicus submission.\"\n\nJudge Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn opened by saying the court \"isn't a rubber stamp\" of the agreement and that she wanted to confirm the deal resulted from an arm's-length process rather than collusion.\n\nCalifornia senior assistant AG Paula Blizzard and a Paramount attorney both affirmed it was an arm's-length process.\n\nAsked how the deal addresses competition concerns, Blizzard said the states worried that blocking the merger outright would just send Warner Bros. Discovery looking for another buyer.\n\nForbes\n\nParamount Merger Settlement Won\u2019t Be Resolved Until At Least Next Week As Judge Questions Agreement\n\nBy Alison Durkee\n\nSeptember 24, 2026\n\nJudge Araceli Martinez-Olguin held a hearing Thursday after the states and Paramount announced Monday they\u2019d reached a settlement in the states\u2019 antitrust lawsuit\u2014paving the way for the merger to go through\u2014which the judge scheduled to \u201caddress certain outstanding questions regarding the factual and legal underpinnings of\u201d the agreement, \u201cas well as [its] implementation.\u201d\n\nThe fate of Paramount Skydance\u2019s controversial merger with Warner Bros. Discovery won\u2019t be decided until at least next week as a federal judge put off ruling on whether to approve Paramount\u2019s settlement with states challenging the merger, posing questions about the agreement at a hearing Thursday and suggesting she had concerns with some of its provisions.\n\nSen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., also filed a request Thursday for the judge to have the settlement undergo an independent review before she rules on whether or not to approve it. Martinez-Olguin asked the parties to respond to Booker\u2019s letter and any of the outside briefs by noon PDT on Monday, meaning any ruling on the agreement\u2019s fate would not come until after that deadline.\n\n@Daniel Miller, POLITICO Reporter\n\nHere\u2019s the judge\u2019s \u201chomework\u201d for the parties in the Paramount-WBD case: She asked them to address, by noon Monday, the letter the court received from Sen. Cory Booker. Read the senator\u2019s letter in full below\n\nBy Daniel Miller\n\nSeptember 25, 2026\n\nIn a letter filed w/ the court, Sen. Cory Booker urged the judge handling the Paramount-WBD antitrust litigation to independently review the proposed settlement before approving it, questioning whether its temporary commitments would adequately restore competition.\n\nLos Angeles Times\n\nJudge holds off on ruling in states\u2019 antitrust settlement with Paramount\n\nBy Samantha Masunaga and Cerys Davies\n\nSeptember 25, 2026\n\nA federal judge declined Thursday to rule immediately on the settlement between Paramount Skydance and 12 state attorneys general, leaving the last major hurdle to the $111 billion Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition unresolved for now.\n\nJudge Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn gave no indication of how she'd rule but said she wanted more information before deciding whether to approve the consent decree.\n\nLos Angeles Magazine\n\nJudge\u2019s Questions Put Paramount-Warner Bros. Deal in New Uncertainty\n\nBy Camryn Rael\n\nSeptember 25, 2026\n\nThe proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance has stirred debate over the future of Hollywood and the growing consolidation of the entertainment industry. That debate moved back into the courtroom Thursday, when U.S. District Judge Araceli Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn questioned a proposed settlement between Paramount and the 12 state attorneys general who sued to block the acquisition. The settlement would resolve the states\u2019 antitrust challenge under a series of conditions, but it still requires the judge\u2019s approval before the merger can move forward.\n\nThe judge\u2019s request came as Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., urged the court to subject the proposed settlement to an independent public-interest review before approving it. Booker, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, has argued the agreement does not adequately address the competitive concerns raised by the merger.\n\n\u201cThis merger is illegal,\u201d Booker said in a statement this week. \u201cIt shrinks two of Hollywood\u2019s major studios from five to four and combines two of the largest basic cable owners \u2014 putting nearly a third of the theatrical film market and nearly a third of basic cable programming under one roof.\u201d\n\nThe.Desk.net\n\nJudge hits pause on settlement between states, Paramount over Warner Bros acquisition\n\nBy Matthew Keys\n\nSeptember 24, 2026\n\nA federal judge in California paused the pending settlement, questioning attorneys Thursday about concerns raised by Sen. Booker.\n\nMart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn asked the parties to respond by noon Monday local time (3 p.m. Eastern) to Booker's letter, which argued the settlement lacked a competitive impact statement, public comment period, or opportunity for stakeholders to be heard.\n\nParamount opposed the filing, calling it an improper submission made after the settlement was already reached.\n\nPOLITICO\n\nNOT A DONE DEAL\n\nBy Daniel Miller and Hassan Kanu\n\nSeptember 25, 2026\n\nThe judge overseeing the 12 states' case against Paramount's Warner Bros. acquisition questioned the parties for 50 minutes Thursday but stopped short of approving the settlement.\n\nMart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn said she wasn't a \"rubber stamp\" and that a ruling would come in due course.\n\nShe opened with detailed questions and closed by giving both sides a \"homework\" assignment: respond by noon Monday to Booker's letter questioning whether the settlement's temporary commitments would adequately restore competition.\n\nThe five-year settlement would require Paramount to release at least 30 theatrical films annually for two years, then 32 a year for three more, and would create an editorial-independence board for CNN and CBS News \u2014 but calls for no upfront divestitures or structural remedies.\n\nSEE ALSO:\n\nBooker Introduces Legislation to Review and Unwind Anticompetitive Corporate Mergers Approved Under Second Trump Administration\n\nBooker Demands Answers on Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest in $111 Billion Warner Bros. Discovery-Paramount Skydance Merger\n\nBooker Statement on Paramount - Skydance/ Warner Bros. Discovery Merger Shareholder Vote\n\nICYMI: Booker Holds Forum on Risks of Paramount\u2013Skydance / Warner Bros. Discovery Merger Ahead of Shareholder Vote\n\nNEW VIDEO: Ahead of Paramount Shareholder Vote, Booker Releases Documentary Exposing Consequences of Proposed Paramount\u2013Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery Merger\n\nBooker Holds Forum on Risks of Paramount\u2013Skydance / Warner Bros. Discovery Merger Ahead of Shareholder Vote\n\nBooker, Schumer, Durbin, Blumenthal, Hirono, Whitehouse, Warren Challenge FCC to Conduct Full Review of Foreign Investment Concerns in Paramount & Warner Bros. Merger\n\nBooker Statement: \u201cThe proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery is far from settled.\u201d\n\nBooker, Schumer, Durbin, Klobuchar, Warren, Blumenthal, Hirono, Welch Demand Paramount CEO & Chairman David Ellison Preserve All Records Related to Proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Transaction\n\nBooker, Durbin Demand Answers on Trump Administration's Removal of DOJ Antitrust Chief Gail Slater", 1, "2026-09-26T09:43:57Z", "2026-09-26T09:44:55Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/-icymi-judge-directs-paramount-state-ags-to-respond-to-booker-letter-challenging-paramount-warner-bros-discovery-merger-settlement"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8195708505809307, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}