From: Jacquelyn Lopez, Rachel L. Jacobs, and David Fox
This afternoon, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that political party committees and joint fundraising committees are not entitled to the special lowest unit charge discount that the Federal Communications Act provides to federal candidates in the weeks before a federal election. This decision deals a serious blow to the highly publicized plans of the Republican Party to use party committee funds to purchase television ad time for Republican House and Senate candidates at lowest unit charge. As the opinion explains, under federal law, only federal candidates – not party committees or joint fundraising committees with non-candidate members – are entitled to the lowest unit charge discount. This decision therefore helps re-establish the significance of the cash advantage that Democratic candidates have over their Republican counterparts.
Under the Federal Communications Act, during the 60 days before a general election, broadcasters must offer time to federal candidates at the “lowest unit charge of the station” for the same class, amount of time, and period requested. This requirement means that federal candidates often receive heavily discounted rates as compared to other advertisers, like outside groups. On March 30, 2026, President Trump’s Federal Communications Commission issued a “Public Notice” claiming, without any basis in the law, that broadcast stations are required to offer this special lowest unit charge discount not only to federal candidates, but also to political party committees and joint fundraising committees. The impact of this notice was significantly amplified by the recent Supreme Court decision allowing political party committees to spend unlimited sums in coordination with federal candidates, including for broadcast TV costs. In fact, using party committee funds to obtain lowest unit charge television rates for party spending coordinated with candidates became a bedrock strategy for the NRSC and NRCC this cycle.
Elias Law Group sued the FCC in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on behalf of Senator Brown, Senator Ossoff, Governor Cooper, and Representative McDonald Rivet to challenge this “Public Notice.” The NRSC and NRCC intervened to defend the FCC’s position. In an order issued today, the Fourth Circuit held that the plain language of the Federal Communications Act is clear that political parties engaged in coordinated expenditures and joint fundraising committees with non-candidate members are not entitled to lowest unit charge because their use of broadcast stations does not constitute federal candidate use.