Court blocks Trump FCC order that could flood broadcast TV with more election ads
Republicans demanded that parties and fundraising committees be given lowest ad rates.
A federal appeals court intervened on Tuesday to halt a Trump administration directive that could have led to an influx of political advertisements on broadcast television during the upcoming elections. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had mandated broadcasters to provide the lowest advertising rates to political parties and joint fundraising committees.
Four Democratic candidates filed a lawsuit against the decision, arguing that only individual candidates are legally entitled under US law to receive the lowest unit charge, or LUC. In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of judges from the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit sided with the candidates and overturned the FCC's order, which was set to take effect on September 4, marking the beginning of the 60-day period before the election during which broadcasters were required to offer the lowest ad rates to qualified candidates.
Written by urgent.news from Ars Technica's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
