Federal Election Commission Chairman Lee E. Goodman warned that the federal government — including some officials in his office — may soon move to clamp down on conservative media.

“I think that there are impulses in the government every day to second guess and look into the editorial decisions of conservative publishers,” Goodman told Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.

At threat, in Goodman’s estimation, is the media’s exemption from federal election laws governing political organizations like PACs. Many in government want to curtail the ability of all news outlets to endorse and promote candidates and issues without any limits or disclosure requirements.

Some have already tried. The FEC Chairman explained that in two different instances, high-ranking officials attempted to regulate both Sean Hannity’s radio program and the Citizens United movie production studio. Those initiatives were defeated, but Democrats on the board often voted to abolish the media exemption.