US Supreme Court again backs Republicans in clash over political ad rates

US Supreme Court again backs Republicans in clash over political ad rates

The full report

The US Supreme Court has again sided with Republicans in the latest clash over a new Federal Communications Commission policy that gives party committees access to discounted TV and radio advertising rates long available to political candidates.

The court agreed to let the FCC, which is chaired by Trump ally Brendan Carr, avoid a judicially imposed deadline that would have forced the agency to rule on a Democratic challenge to the policy before the November 3 midterm elections.

The FCC joined two Republican committees in filing a request to the Supreme Court to lift the lower court's deadline. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority, with Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson indicating they would have denied the request.

The FCC modified its so-called 'lowest unit charge' rule in March in a move seen as a boost to President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans. The president's party is seeking to retain control of Congress in the November 3 midterms.

The Supreme Court's latest action marks the second time in recent weeks that it has addressed the FCC's policy, as major Republican committees head toward the midterms with a cash advantage over their Democratic counterparts.

In September, the court granted a request by the national Republican committees that support the party's candidates in Senate and House of Representatives races to revive the policy after the 4th Circuit blocked it.

A group of Democratic candidates, including Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, challenged the policy through in-house proceedings at the FCC, but the agency took no action, leading to a successful challenge in the 4th Circuit.