The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has opened a public comment period on a challenge to its March order that required broadcasters to offer the lowest possible rate to political advertising buyers as the agency continues to fight a legal challenge over the initiative.
On Tuesday, Acting Media Bureau Chief Alex Sanjenis put the matter in the public docket (No. 26-253) following an application for review filed by Sherrod Brown, Jon Ossoff, Roy Cooper and Kristen McDonald Rivet, who are also litigants in the ongoing lawsuit.
The four candidates argue that a public notice published by the FCC’s Media Bureau in March improperly expanded eligibility for discounted political advertising rates beyond candidates themselves to include certain authorized committees and coordinated expenditures.
The FCC has taken the position that the notice did not create a new rule, but instead restated existing requirements under a provision of the federal Communications Act and the agency’s own political broadcasting rules.
The dispute has already reached the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which in August granted the candidates’ petition challenging the FCC’s handling of the matter. The court criticized the agency for failing to seek responses from affected parties, develop a factual record or solicit public comment before acting.
Commissioner Anna Gómez also criticized the Media Bureau’s process, arguing that the agency had relied on a bureau-level public notice without first conducting a broader public proceeding.
Sanjenis said those developments warranted opening the new docket and creating a formal opportunity for public participation. The FCC generally provides at least 30 days for comments, but the Media Bureau determined that a shorter timetable was appropriate in this case.
The agency will receive public comments through September 25 — a time frame that is much shorter than the usual window — with reply comments due by September 30.
