Chief Justice John Roberts on Oct. 8 issued a temporary administrative stay blocking a deadline for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to rule on whether political parties and joint fundraising committees may purchase broadcast ads at discounted candidate rates. The stay prevents the FCC from being compelled to decide by noon the next day, as ordered by a Fourth Circuit panel on Aug. 25.
The Fourth Circuit ruling had set aside an FCC Media Bureau public notice that extended the lowest unit charge discount—typically reserved for candidates—to political party committees and certain joint fundraising committees. The notice remains in effect due to the stay, allowing parties and joint fundraising committees to continue purchasing ads at the candidate rate. The appeals court’s decision addressed jurisdiction and did not rule on the merits of the case.
The Communications Act currently requires broadcasters to charge legally qualified candidates no more than the lowest rate offered to their most favored customers during the 45 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election. The rule does not apply to streaming or social media ads. The Democratic congressional candidates who challenged the FCC notice argued that the law requires the discount to apply only to candidates, not parties or joint fundraising committees, as these entities spend their own money. A dissenting judge, J. Harvie Wilkinson, argued the appeals court should not have reviewed the notice while it was still pending at the FCC, stating that barring parties from the discount rate restricted political speech on the eve of an election.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the stay, stating she would have denied it because the party committees were “not likely to succeed on the merits.” The Supreme Court’s intervention follows a request from the Department of Justice (DOJ) on behalf of the Trump administration, which sought to halt the Fourth Circuit’s ruling. The DOJ argued the appeals court’s decision could significantly impact advertising rates in the closing weeks of midterm elections.
The legal dispute centers on competing financial advantages: Republicans have pushed for the rule change to leverage their cash advantage at the party level, while Democrats have sought to limit the discount to candidates alone, citing their own financial edge in individual campaigns. The FCC’s revised rule, which the Fourth Circuit overturned, had allowed parties and joint fundraising committees to access the discounted rates typically reserved for candidates.