President Donald Trump on Sunday signaled his support for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revoking ABC and NBC News’ broadcasting licenses, calling the media outlets an “arm of the Democratic Party.” But press freedoms and laws governing the FCC would hamper any effort to carry out the threat.

License revocations are a lot more complicated than Trump makes them sound. The FCC doesn't issue licenses directly to networks such as CBS, NBC, or ABC. The FCC's licensing authority is over broadcast stations, although many of those stations are owned and operated by a big network.