Supreme Court Rescues Republicans From Retail Ad Prices
The Supreme Court rescued America’s most vulnerable political constituency Wednesday, shielding Republican committees with roughly $233 million in cash from the indignity of paying regular television advertising rates. In an unsigned order, the justices blocked a Fourth Circuit deadline requiring the Republican-led Federal Communications Commission to promptly decide whether party committees qualify for the same “lowest unit charge” rates guaranteed to candidates. The FCC may now continue its careful deliberations until after the November 3 midterms, when resolving an election dispute will no longer risk affecting an election.
The order preserves the agency’s March policy extending candidate-level discounts to coordinated party advertisements and joint fundraising committees. Combined with the court’s June decision permitting unlimited coordinated party spending, the arrangement secures the First Amendment principle that political speech becomes freer when purchased in bulk. Republican committees have already exceeded the former coordinated-spending limits by more than $48 million, leaving donors exposed to the grave possibility that some money might remain unconverted into ominous footage, capital letters and warnings about America’s final chance.
President Donald Trump praised the ruling as a victory for consumers whose consumption consists primarily of congressional majorities. “These are tremendous discounts, the best discounts, and without them very successful people would have to pay retail for democracy, which is basically communism,” Trump said. “Nobody has been treated worse than a billionaire who finds out a thirty-second attack ad costs the regular price.” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had faced what supporters described as a brutal 48-hour deadline after five months of public comments, legal filings and strategic calendar observation. The court concluded that ordering an agency to act before voting begins would constitute judicial interference, while ensuring that it acts after voting ends would constitute restraint.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson would have denied the stay, reflecting the minority view that election laws should operate while elections are still happening. The ruling allows every Republican dollar to purchase more airtime, ensuring ordinary Americans receive the maximum number of messages explaining why wealthy political organizations urgently require government protection from full price. Discounted television advertising is now a fundamental constitutional right of the financially comfortable.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.