Supreme Court backs FCC 7-2 in dispute over campaign ad rates for parties

Mixed · 2The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on Wednesday 14 October to halt a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit order that required the Federal Communications Commission to decide quickly on a revised rule about campaign advertising rates. 1 2 Mixed · 2The revised rule would let political parties and their joint fundraising committees get the lower rates that federal law gives to "legally qualified" candidates in the 60 days before an election; the LA Times says the FCC, under Republican control, announced the change on March 30. 2 1 Left · 1Democratic Senate candidates Sherrod Brown, Jon Ossoff and Roy Cooper objected in April and sued in federal court when the FCC did not act; they argue the agency had no authority to extend the benefit beyond candidates. 2

Mixed · 2The 4th Circuit ruled for the Democrats in two 2-1 decisions; its second order required the FCC to decide by Oct. 9, and Chief Justice John Roberts paused that order last week at the request of Solicitor General D. John Sauer. 2 1 Right · 1In an unsigned per curiam opinion, the majority said the Communications Act requires the FCC to act on every application but sets no timeframe, and that the 4th Circuit's "extraordinary" writ was inappropriate because it demanded a decision within 48 hours, five months after filing, while deliberations were ongoing. 1 Mixed · 2The court said the judiciary may not "meddle" in a coordinate branch's workings, and that being forced to abandon its deliberation process is an injury to the FCC that cannot be remedied afterwards. 1 2

Mixed · 2Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented; the Washington Examiner says they did not explain why. 1 2 Centre · 1Newsweek reports the unsigned order came less than three weeks before the 3 November midterms, that the court said the FCC would suffer "irreparable harm" if the lower court's order stayed in effect, and that Sotomayor and Jackson would have denied the stay applications. 3 Mixed · 2It was the second time in about a month the dispute reached the court: on Sept. 4 it ruled that the 4th Circuit had intervened too soon, because a party must wait for the FCC to resolve its application for review; the Examiner reports that vote as 8-1 and the LA Times says only Jackson dissented. 1 2

Mixed · 2Each side stresses a different advantage: the Examiner says Democratic candidates lead in cash raised by individual candidates and Republicans at the party level, while the LA Times says the change was seen as benefiting Republicans, who raise more through party committees funded by wealthy donors. 1 2 Left · 1Critics included the Campaign Legal Center, which said the change was "contrary to the text and purpose of the federal statute and would effectively grant super PACs an advertising discount," and FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat, who objected to rule changes made "in the dark." 2 Right · 1The Examiner places the case alongside another election fight on the emergency docket, over the Trump administration's mail ballot order, which the court allowed to remain blocked through the midterms. 1