A federal appeals court has blocked a Federal Communications Commission order that would have let political parties and joint fundraising committees access the same rock-bottom broadcast advertising rates reserved for individual election candidates. The 4th Circuit's 2-1 ruling, issued in response to a legal challenge from four Democratic candidates, prevents what could have been a significant expansion of cheap political advertising on television ahead of the upcoming elections, siding with arguments that only candidates themselves are entitled to the discount under US law.

The FCC's Media Bureau had asserted in a March notice that parties and authorised committees could also claim the "lowest unit charge," a decision backed by Republican congressional and senatorial committees, but due to take effect on 4 September. The court disagreed, ruling the relevant statute is unambiguous and only covers legally qualified candidates, and set the FCC notice aside. The case was brought by Sherrod Brown, Jon Ossoff, Roy Cooper and Kristen McDonald Rivet, all Democrats, whose lawyers called the outcome a major setback for Republicans, who they said had hoped to use the discounted rates to boost struggling federal campaigns following a related June Supreme Court ruling on party spending limits.