The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with the Trump administration, blocking a lower court from forcing the FCC to quickly resolve Democratic objections to a policy that lets political parties buy campaign ads at the same discounted rates required for candidates.
The unsigned order extended a prior pause, saying federal law does not require the FCC to act on a fixed timetable and that judges would violate the separation of powers by intervening in the agency’s process. “The Commission may exercise its discretion to set its own procedures and schedule for resolving such applications,” the majority wrote. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
A divided appeals court had accused the FCC of “gamesmanship” aimed at shielding the policy from judicial review before the Nov. 3 midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. The high court had previously blocked the same appeals court from halting the policy while the FCC finished its internal review.
Republicans are expected to gain more from the policy because their party committees have raised substantially more money than Democratic counterparts, potentially narrowing resource gaps in key races where Democratic candidates have out-raised their opponents. The Justice Department argued it was reasonable for the FCC to continue gathering public comments and avoid issuing a final ruling in the middle of the election season. Democrats countered that the agency was using procedural delays to prevent timely court review of an unlawful change.