Supreme Court grants Republican emergency appeal on TV ad rates before midterms

The Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal from Republicans on Friday in a dispute over campaign television ad pricing, temporarily halting a lower-court ruling that would have restricted discounted broadcast rates to candidates only. The decision clears the way for political parties to access cheaper TV ad time ahead of the November midterm elections.

Four Democratic candidates, including Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia and former Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, had challenged the Federal Communications Commission's March decision allowing party-coordinated ads to receive discounted rates. They won support from a divided panel of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, but the Supreme Court majority determined the lower court had acted prematurely compared to rulings in other jurisdictions.

The National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee argued that broadcasters had already begun charging them higher rates following the appeals court decision, disrupting their advertising budgets. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the sole public dissenter, contending the Court did not need to await completion of an internal FCC review. The decision halts the appeals court ruling while the Republican committees pursue a fuller appeal.