Supreme Court grants Republican emergency appeal on TV ad rates before midterms
- The Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal from Republicans on Friday, halting a lower-court ruling that would have limited cheaper broadcast ad rates to candidates only.
- The decision allows Republican party committees to access discounted TV ad rates ahead of the November midterm elections, potentially giving them a financial advantage.
- Four Democratic candidates, including Senator Jon Ossoff and former Senator Sherrod Brown, had challenged the FCC's March ruling that allowed party-coordinated ads to receive discounted rates.
- Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole public dissenter, arguing the court did not need to wait for an internal FCC review before acting.
- The ruling follows a June Supreme Court decision that removed limits on party spending coordinated with candidates, which was viewed as benefiting Republicans due to their cash advantage.
The Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal from Republicans on Friday in a dispute over campaign ad pricing, halting a lower-court ruling that would have restricted discounted broadcast ad rates to candidates only. The decision clears the way for Republican party committees to access cheaper TV ad time ahead of the November midterm elections. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole public dissenter from the unsigned order.
The case arose after the Federal Communications Commission's Media Bureau ruled in March that party-coordinated ads are entitled to discounted rates under federal law. Four Democratic candidates, including Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia and former Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, challenged this finding in court and won a victory from a divided panel of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Republican National Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee then appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that broadcasters had already begun charging them higher rates following the appeals court decision, disrupting their campaign budgets. The Supreme Court majority agreed that the lower court had acted prematurely and halted the appeals court ruling while the Republican committees file a fuller appeal. The decision comes after a June Supreme Court ruling that removed limits on party spending coordinated with candidates, a development viewed as advantageous to Republicans given their substantial cash advantage.
最高法院批准共和党关于中期选举前电视广告费率的紧急上诉
最高法院周五批准了共和党在竞选广告定价纠纷中的紧急上诉，暂停了一项下级法院的裁决，该裁决本将把折扣广播广告费率限制仅供候选人使用。该决定为共和党党委在11月中期选举前获得廉价电视广告时间扫清了障碍。大法官凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊是该无署名裁定中唯一公开反对者。
该案源于联邦通信委员会媒体局在3月的裁决，该裁决规定党派协调的广告有权根据联邦法律获得折扣费率。包括乔治亚州参议员乔恩·奥索夫和俄亥俄州前参议员谢罗德·布朗在内的四名民主党候选人对这一裁决提出质疑，并从美国第四巡回上诉法院的分裂小组获得了胜诉。
共和党全国众议院委员会和共和党全国参议院委员会随后向最高法院上诉，辩称广播公司已开始按照上诉法院的裁决向他们收取更高费率，破坏了他们的竞选预算。最高法院多数意见同意下级法院行动过于仓促，暂停了上诉法院的裁决，同时共和党委员会提交更完整的上诉。该决定是在最高法院6月的一项裁决之后做出的，该裁决取消了对与候选人协调的党派支出的限制，这一发展被认为对拥有巨大现金优势的共和党有利。