Chief Justice John Roberts gave the Federal Communications Commission a temporary win on Thursday in its legal battle over who is entitled to favorable advertising rates in the closing weeks of the costly and hotly contested midterm elections.
Roberts granted an administrative stay of a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit that would have forced the FCC to issue a final ruling on a revised rule allowing political parties and joint fundraising committees to access the more favorable television advertisement rates that are typically reserved for political candidates. The Democratic congressional candidates who brought the challenge are hoping to strike down the revised rule due to their cash advantage with individual candidates, and Republicans have pushed for the new rule due to their significant cash advantage at the party level.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that the 4th Circuit had prematurely halted the rule, finding that the FCC must issue a decision on the Democratic candidates’ petition for review before the appeals court can get involved. On Wednesday, a three-judge panel on the 4th Circuit ordered the FCC to issue its decision by Friday, a move the Trump administration claims is to allow the appeals court to strike down the rule with less than a month to go before the elections.
Roberts halted the 4th Circuit’s ruling for now, pausing that deadline while the Supreme Court weighs the emergency petitions from both the Trump administration and the GOP Senate and House campaign arms to lift the lower court’s ruling.
The chief justice ordered the Democratic candidates to respond to the emergency petitions by 5 p.m. on Saturday but did not set a firm timeline for when the high court will rule on the petitions.
DOJ PULLS SUPREME COURT INTO FCC FIGHT OVER FAVORABLE CAMPAIGN AD RATES
The fight over the FCC rule comes with less than a month to go in the fiercely contested and expensive midterm elections, with control of both the House and Senate at stake.
The Thursday applications are the latest election-related case to make its way to the Supreme Court’s emergency docket in recent months. The other major fight on the emergency docket over the past several months has been regarding the Trump administration’s new mail ballot order, which the high court allowed to remain blocked through the midterm elections.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
