March 30 (Reuters) - The ranking members of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee questioned the Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr and criticized his approval of Nexstar's merger with Tegna without a vote from the full commission, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
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* The letter to Carr was jointly sent by the committee'sRepublican Senator Ted Cruz and Democrat Maria Cantwell, theBloomberg report said. * The senators told Carr that he improperly allowed agencystaff to approve the merger even though it involved waivingmajor anti-consolidation rules, Bloomberg said, citing a copy ofthe letter. * The senators said that significant questions of policymust be addressed by the full FCC in a vote. * The FCC approved the $3.54 billion sale of localtelevision station owner Tegna to Nexstar earlier this month,despite objections from Democratic-led states, after which thecompanies quickly closed the deal. * However, last week, a U.S. judge ordered Nexstar totemporarily keep Tegna's assets separate pending a review ofwhether the deal violates federal antitrust laws. * The FCC, the Senate Commerce Committee, Cruz and Cantwelldid not immediately respond to requests for comment outsideregular business hours.
(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali Paul and Thomas Derpinghaus)