Overview
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which ruled Tuesday, issued a 2-1 decision setting aside an FCC Media Bureau Public Notice that would have let political parties and some joint fundraising committees claim candidates’ Lowest Unit Charge rates.
- The court said the LUC law and campaign finance rules plainly reserve the discounted rates for candidates and their authorized committees, and it rejected the Media Bureau’s March 30 guidance as unlawful.
- The ruling is set to block parties and joint fundraising committees with non-candidate members from using candidate rates when the 60-day general-election discount window opens on Sept. 4.
- A dissenting judge argued the court lacked jurisdiction to review the Media Bureau notice and warned the majority’s ruling could raise First Amendment issues for coordinated party-candidate speech.
- The decision follows a June Supreme Court ruling that loosened limits on coordinated spending and could have given party war chests a major price advantage, so Republicans and the FCC have signaled they will seek further review, making more court or agency actions likely before November.