WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday evening, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in NRSC v. FEC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted an emergency motion to expedite a challenge brought by four Democratic candidates against FCC guidance that would require broadcasters to offer discounted advertising rates, typically reserved for candidates, to political party committees. The court granted the Democrats’ request for an accelerated briefing schedule, with opening briefs due July 6 and an oral argument to be scheduled.
Elias Law Group attorneys brought this lawsuit on behalf of Senator Sherrod Brown, Senator Jon Ossoff, Governor Roy Cooper, and Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet, challenging recent guidance from the FCC’s Media Bureau. That guidance instructs broadcast stations to charge political party committees the “lowest unit charge,” a deeply discounted rate that federal law reserves for candidates themselves, when parties run advertisements coordinated with a campaign.
This lawsuit takes on new significance in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in NRSC v. FEC, which struck down longstanding limits on how much party committees may spend in coordination with their candidates. But that decision did not address whether parties can access the candidate discount, a question that is governed by an entirely separate statute.
The Democratic candidates argue that the FCC’s guidance conflicts with Section 315(b) of the Communications Act, which entitles only a “legally qualified candidate” to the lowest unit charge. President Trump’s Solicitor General came to the same conclusion, telling the Supreme Court that broadcasters are required to charge low rates for candidate spending “but not for party spending — whether coordinated or independent.”
“The Supreme Court eliminated limits on coordinated party spending, but the Court did not decide whether broadcasters must offer political parties the rock-bottom advertising rates that Congress reserved for candidates,” said Elias Law Group partners Rachel Jacobs and Jacquelyn Lopez. “Congress created the lowest unit charge for candidates, and there is nothing in the law extending that benefit to party committees or other groups. We are grateful the court recognized the urgency of this issue, and we look forward to getting clarity as soon as possible.”
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