Update, Sept. 4: The Supreme Court granted application 26A274 — Fourth Circuit mandate recalled and stayed pending certiorari; Justice Jackson dissents. Read the grant update.

WASHINGTON — The National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee have asked the Supreme Court for an emergency stay of a Fourth Circuit ruling that blocks political parties and joint fundraising committees from the preferential “lowest unit charge” broadcast rates candidates get before elections, docketed as No. 26A274, National Republican Congressional Committee v. Brown.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency matters from the Fourth Circuit, directed a response from the Democratic candidate respondents by noon EDT Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. The applicants want relief before the 60-day general-election advertising window opens Friday, Sept. 4. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Court had not ruled.

What the filings say

Under 47 U.S.C. § 315(b), during the 45 days before a primary and 60 days before a general election, broadcasters must charge legally qualified candidates no more than the station’s lowest unit charge for the same class and amount of time. On March 30, 2026, the FCC Media Bureau issued a public notice (DA 26-300) stating that political parties and joint fundraising committees can also qualify for those rates for candidate-use advertising.

A divided Fourth Circuit panel in Brown v. FCC, No. 26-1785, set that notice aside. Judge Robert King, writing for the majority, held the statute unambiguously limits the lowest-unit-charge benefit to a candidate’s own use and does not extend it to parties or joint fundraising committees with non-candidate members. Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson dissented, arguing among other points that the FCC process was unfinished and that the majority’s reading restricts political speech close to an election, according to SCOTUSblog’s account of the ruling.

The NRCC and NRSC filed their stay application Aug. 28, 2026 (docketed Aug. 31). They argue the Media Bureau notice was not a final FCC order reviewable by the courts of appeals, and that “use” by a candidate or an authorized committee — not who pays — controls the rate. They warn the Fourth Circuit decision will confuse broadcasters and campaigns during election season and seek an immediate administrative stay plus a stay pending certiorari.

The United States and the Federal Communications Commission filed a response Aug. 31 supporting the stay application. Solicitor General D. John Sauer’s brief for the government argues the Democratic challengers lack standing and that the Fourth Circuit lacked jurisdiction, and that the equities favor a stay. An amicus brief from the Republican National Committee and others was submitted Sept. 1, per the Court’s docket.

Respondents opposing the GOP application, represented on the Supreme Court docket by Elias Law Group, are Sherrod Brown, Sen. Jon Ossoff, Roy Cooper and Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet. Their merits response is due noon Thursday. SCOTUSblog reported Roberts may act alone or refer the application to the full Court.

Why the Friday clock matters

If no stay issues before Sept. 4, the Fourth Circuit’s reading would govern the start of the 60-day general-election window: broadcasters would not be required to extend lowest-unit rates to party committees for coordinated TV buys — only to candidates and their authorized committees, as the Fourth Circuit majority framed it. The NRCC/NRSC application and the government’s supporting brief treat that timing as the irreparable-harm hook for emergency relief.

Nothing in the public docket as of Sept. 2 shows a granted stay, an administrative stay, or a denial. This report attributes positions to the parties’ filings and to SCOTUSblog’s case page; it does not predict the Court’s order.

Dated Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026: responses are due noon Thursday; the advertising window opens Friday. The stay fight is live; the outcome is not.

Sources