U.S.Court order
Supreme Court pauses Fourth Circuit order forcing FCC to rule fast on party ad rates
The Supreme Court on October 14, 2026 granted the FCC's request to stay a Fourth Circuit order directing the agency to rule within 48 hours on Democratic candidates' challenge to discounted political advertising rates for parties and joint fundraising committees. The unsigned opinion said the FCC may set its own schedule, so it need not decide before the November election.
Order (Supreme Court of the United States) → · SCOTUSblog
Key points
- Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson would have denied the requests.Supreme Court of the United StatesSCOTUSblog
- The Court said the Fourth Circuit's 48-hour deadline intruded on the FCC's deliberations and violated the separation of powers.Supreme Court of the United StatesSCOTUSblog
- The challengers include Jon Ossoff, Sherrod Brown, Roy Cooper and Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet.SCOTUSblog
- They dispute an FCC Media Bureau notice extending the preferential rates to parties and joint fundraising committees.SCOTUSblog
- The Court denied as moot a parallel application by the Republican Senate and House campaign committees.Supreme Court of the United StatesSCOTUSblog