WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court, for the second time, sided with the Trump administration in a dispute over radio and television advertising rates that could help the GOP maintain control of Congress in the November elections.
The justices on Oct. 8 blocked for now an effort by a lower court to stop what that appeals court called “gamesmanship” by the federal agency that regulates the airways.
The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Federal Communications Commission was intentionally delaying acting on Democratic candidates’ objections to a new policy in order to prevent the courts from weighing in before the midterm elections.
The appeals court on Oct. 7 gave the FCC two days to issue its decision.
The Supreme Court paused
that order at the request of the Trump administration, issuing a temporary decision that stops the immediate deadline. The justices asked Democrats to respond to the administration's appeal by Oct. 10.
In September, the justices had also ruled for Republicans when it said the appeals court could not block the policy before the FCC completed its internal review of the Democrats’ complaint.
In the run-up to an election, states are required by federal law to give their lowest rates to “any person who is a legally qualified candidate for any public office in connection with his campaign.”
In March, the Federal Communications Commission said that applies to ads run by political parties in coordination with candidates – not just to ads paid for by the candidates themselves.
Four Democrats running for the House or Senate in battleground races, including Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, challenged that interpretation.
Republicans, who are trying to fend off a blue wave to protect their majorities in the House and Senate, are expected to benefit from the high court’s intervention because their political committees have raised considerably more money than have Democrats' party committees. That could help the GOP close resource gaps in key races where Democratic candidates have outraised Republicans.
In its Oct. 7 ruling, the appeals court – which divided 2-1 over the issue − said the FCC was trying to “create from whole cloth a new rule entirely outside the purview of judicial review.”
The court said it had granted the FCC “a substantial amount of grace, but its gamesmanship must end.”
In an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, the Justice Department said the FCC is still collecting public comments about the policy “and it is also entirely reasonable to refrain from issuing a decision on campaign-finance rules in the middle of the election season.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court again sides with Trump in dispute over campaign ads
