The US Supreme Court has issued an order forcing broadcast TV stations to sell election adverts to political parties and joint fundraising committees at the same steep discounts previously reserved for individual candidates. The 5 September ruling, granted in response to an emergency request from the National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee, overturns a lower court decision and lands just as a legally mandated 60-day pre-election discount window begins, giving the change immediate practical effect on campaign advertising costs.

The dispute centres on the "lowest unit charge" rule, which requires stations to charge candidates their cheapest rate; the Federal Communications Commission had extended this to parties and joint fundraising committees, prompting a challenge from Democratic candidates that succeeded at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals before being stayed by the Supreme Court. The unsigned, per curiam order did not rule on the substantive legal question but held that the appeals court should not have intervened before the FCC issued a final decision; Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. Because parties and joint fundraising committees can raise and spend far more than individual candidates, critics including FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez warned the ruling could unleash a surge of "dark money" into cut-price TV advertising, with financially struggling broadcasters left absorbing the cost.