By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Two Republican committees have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve a federal policy that would give them access to discounted television and radio advertising rates long available to political candidates, as President Donald Trump’s party seeks to keep control of Congress in the November midterm elections.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee asked the justices in a filing made public on Monday to halt a lower court’s ruling that effectively blocked them from benefiting from the Federal Communications Commission’s so-called “lowest unit charge” rule.
That policy requires broadcasters to charge discounted rates for airing certain political advertisements within 60 days of a general election, a window that opens this year on Friday. The FCC in March published guidance saying that party committees are eligible for the cheaper rates when buying ads coordinated with candidates.
The FCC policy gained greater significance after the Supreme Court in June struck down federal restrictions on spending coordinated between parties and their candidates, siding with Republican challengers. One Republican official told Reuters that the combination of that ruling and the committees’ eligibility for cheaper airtime means, “Our dollars can go further than they could before.”
Republicans are hoping to retain control of the House of Representatives and Senate in the November 3 midterms.
The three major Republican committees — the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee — ended July with about $279 million in cash. That was more than double the roughly $136 million held by their Democratic counterparts, which also carried nearly $18 million in debt, according to Federal Election Commission filings in August.
A group of Democratic candidates including Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia sued in June to try to block the lowest unit charge policy from applying to party committees.
The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on August 25 sided with the Democratic challengers, ruling that political parties are not entitled to the low-cost ad rate. That ruling prompted the Republican committees to ask the Supreme Court to halt the 4th Circuit’s ruling before the FCC ad-rate policy takes effect this week.
In court papers, the Republican committees said they have already budgeted “tens of millions of dollars in ad buys under these rules.” They added, “But because of the 4th Circuit’s decision, broadcast stations are already rescinding those rates.”
The Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling in June powered by its conservative majority decided that a cap on the amount of money parties can spend on campaigns with input from candidates violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protections against government abridgment of freedom of speech.
It was the latest decision eliminating campaign funding limits in recent decades and marked one of several rulings the court issued during its recently concluded term that favored Republicans.
(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)
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