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The justices halted for now a lower-court ruling in favor of
Democratic candidates who argued that cheaper broadcast ads
should be limited to candidates. One justice publicly dissented
from the unsigned order. It's the latest election-related appeal
to come before the high court ahead of the pivotal November
contests.
The Trump administration supported the emergency appeal from GOP
campaign arms.
The decision comes on the heels of a June Supreme Court ruling
that removed limits on parties spending money in coordination
with candidates. It was seen as a boon to the GOP because the
national party has a sizable cash advantage, and access to
cheaper ad rates could boost that edge.
Among Democrats, meanwhile, some individual candidates have
sizable fundraising advantages over their Republican opponents.
Candidates pay discounted rates for TV time around an election
under federal law, and in March the Federal Communications
Commission's Media Bureau said certain party-coordinated ads are
entitled to those prices as well.
Four Democrats, including Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and former
Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, challenged the finding in court.
They won a victory from a divided panel of the U.S. 4th Circuit
Court of appeals.
The National Republican Congressional Committee and National
Republican Senatorial Committee then asked the Supreme Court to
intervene. They argued that broadcasters were already charging
them higher rates and upending their planned budgets after the
appeals court decision.
The majority of justices agreed that the lower court had acted
too soon with the order that differed from judges around the
country.
“Current and future recissions will require the party committees
to pay more for advertising space, thereby hampering their
efforts to reach the electorate in the critical weeks leading up
to the midterms,” the Supreme Court order states.
One justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, disagreed, writing that the
court likely didn't have to wait until an internal FCC review
was done.
The decision halts the appeals court ruling while the Republican
committees file a fuller appeal.
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