Supreme Court skeptical of challenge to phone and internet subsidy program for under-served areas

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Wed Mar 26, 2025, 01:59 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: NBC News

March 26, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT / Updated March 26, 2025, 1:42 PM EDT


WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared unlikely to strike down a Federal Communications Commission program that subsidizes telecommunications services in rural and low-income areas.

Although the court has a 6-3 conservative majority that has undercut the authority of government agencies in a series of recent decisions, justices expressed reservations about the legal argument made by challengers.

The case concerns whether Congress in a 1996 law exceeded its authority in setting up the Universal Service Fund, which requires telecommunications services to submit payments to subsidize “universal service." The fees, which are passed on to customers, raise billions of dollars a year that are spent on providing phone and internet services, including for schools, libraries and hospitals.

A second, connected legal question is whether the FCC could delegate its own authority to a private corporation it set up called the Universal Service Administrative Company to administer the fund. The case seeks to have the court to breathe new life into the “nondelegation doctrine,” which states that Congress has limited powers to delegate its lawmaking authority to the executive branch.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-hears-fcc-case-weaken-power-federal-agencies-rcna197975

---

Article updated.

Original article/headline -

Supreme Court hears FCC case that could weaken power of federal agencies

March 26, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT


WASHINGTON — The latest attempt by conservatives to undermine the federal bureaucracy reaches the Supreme Court on Wednesday as the justices consider whether the Federal Communications Commission unlawfully wields power via a program that subsidizes telecommunications services in underserved regions.

The court has a 6-3 conservative majority that has in a series of recent decisions undercut the authority of government agencies and advanced a deregulatory agenda largely favored by business interests and Republicans.

The case concerns whether Congress in a 1996 law exceeded its authority in setting up the Universal Service Fund, which requires telecommunications services to submit payments to subsidize “universal service” in low-income and rural areas.

The fees, which are passed on to customers, raise billions of dollars a year that are spent on providing phone and internet services, including for schools, libraries and hospitals.