The Supreme Court on Wednesday let the FCC keep discounted political ad rates for party committees in place through the midterms, refusing to force the agency to rule on the Democratic challenge before Election Day.
The stay, reported by Reuters from Washington on Wednesday, is the second time in recent weeks the court has stepped into the fight over the FCC's "lowest unit charge" policy — and the second time it has gone the Republicans' way.
The policy, rewritten in March by the FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr, lets party committees buy TV and radio time at the same cut rates broadcasters must offer candidates before an election. The discounted window for the November 3 midterms opened on September 4, and those rates now stay in place while the legal fight runs its course.
"We are pleased the Supreme Court has granted the FCC's stay request. The court's decision is right on the law and avoids the specter of upending the rules for political ads right in the middle of an ongoing election," an FCC spokesperson said.
The case reached the high court after the Richmond-based 4th Circuit, ruling 2-1 on October 7, ordered the FCC to rule promptly on the challenge Democratic candidates — including Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia — filed in April, and accused the agency of "delay tactics." Chief Justice John Roberts had lifted the October 9 deadline himself; Wednesday's order keeps it lifted. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated they would have denied the request.
The stakes come down to airtime. Since the court struck down the coordinated-spending limits in June, the two Republican committees have blown past the old caps by more than $48 million, against just under $4 million for the Democrats, and the three Republican committees ended August with about $233 million in cash, against roughly $130 million for the Democrats.
The Republican committees told the court the 4th Circuit had "short-circuited" the FCC's review. The Democratic candidates accuse the FCC of "blatant procedural trench warfare" to protect an unlawful directive until it is too late to matter.
The practical result is already locked in: the discounted rates the FCC set in March will govern the costliest weeks of the midterms, and the Democratic challenge will not be settled before the last ballots are cast on November 3.
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