Breaking News: Emergency Response Underway in New York City Involving Prominent Public Figure

The justices intervened after a federal appeals court struck down an FCC policy that allowed political parties engaged in coordinated advertising to obtain the same favorable broadcast rates as candidates.

The emergency dispute arrived at the Court just as the discounted-rate requirements were scheduled to take effect and as campaigns began committing substantial sums to television and radio advertising.

Republican committees warned that broadcasters had already begun withdrawing favorable rates following the lower court decision, increasing the cost of reaching voters before Election Day.

The Supreme Court granted an emergency request from the National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee, temporarily restoring the FCC policy while further litigation proceeds.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only justice to publicly dissent from the Court’s unsigned decision.

The dispute concerns the Federal Communications Commission’s “lowest unit charge” rules, which require broadcasters to give legally qualified candidates favorable advertising rates during specified periods before elections.

In March, the FCC’s Media Bureau announced that those favorable rates could also apply under certain conditions to political parties and joint fundraising committees participating in coordinated political activity with candidates.

Four Democratic congressional candidates challenged that policy before the FCC and later asked the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to invalidate it while their administrative challenge remained pending.

The Fourth Circuit sided with the Democratic challengers on August 25 and set aside the FCC notice, meaning party committees would no longer automatically receive the lower candidate rates.

Republican committees then turned to the Supreme Court, arguing that losing the discounts so close to the midterms would force them to spend significantly more money for advertising they had already planned around the lower rates.