GOP, Trump Admin Win Supreme Court Case Regarding Political Ads
Supreme Court Lets FCC Review Political Ad Rate Dispute Without Court-Imposed Deadline
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the Federal Communications Commission can continue reviewing a Democratic challenge to its political advertising guidance without meeting a lower court’s accelerated deadline.
The order keeps the guidance in effect while litigation continues, allowing political parties and certain joint fundraising committees to access discounted broadcast advertising rates traditionally guaranteed to candidates near elections. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated they would have denied the FCC’s request.
“Our system of separation of powers does not allow the Judiciary to meddle in ‘the workings of a coordinate branch of the Government’ in this manner,” the majority wrote.
The dispute began in March, when the FCC’s Media Bureau issued guidance extending the lowest advertising rates to authorized joint fundraising committees and to party ads coordinated with candidates. Federal law guarantees qualified candidates broadcasters’ lowest unit charge for comparable airtime during the 60 days before a general election and 45 days before a primary.
Democratic candidates, including Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, challenged the guidance through FCC proceedings in April, arguing the agency had expanded the law beyond what Congress authorized.
After the commission did not quickly resolve their objections, the candidates asked the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene. The appeals court initially ruled in their favor, but the Supreme Court intervened in September, finding the challengers had to await commission action before seeking judicial review. That ruling restored access to the disputed rates for eligible party committees. Justice Jackson dissented.
The appeals court later ordered the FCC to decide the administrative challenge by October 9, citing the approaching election and delays. Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily paused that deadline. Wednesday’s order allows the agency to continue its review without a court-imposed timetable and does not resolve whether the guidance is lawful.
An FCC spokesperson welcomed the ruling, saying it avoided changing political advertising arrangements during the campaign. Democrats argue the delay effectively preserves the policy through Election Day. Republican committees said the appeals court had bypassed normal administrative procedures and risked disrupting ad plans already arranged with broadcasters, The Hill reported.
The financial stakes are substantial. The National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee previously told the justices they had budgeted tens of millions of dollars for advertising under the disputed rates. At the end of August, the three principal national Republican committees reported about $233 million in cash. Their Democratic counterparts reported $130 million in cash and nearly $18 million in debt, according to federal disclosures cited by Reuters.
The case follows a June Supreme Court ruling striking down federal limits on coordinated spending between political parties and candidates, further reshaping campaign advertising rules. Supporters of the FCC guidance say coordinated political speech should not be disrupted by last-minute court intervention. Critics argue the discounted rates should remain limited to candidates expressly covered by federal law.