Supreme Court Stays Fourth Circuit Order Giving FCC 48 Hours to Decide Candidates' Ad-Rate Challenge

On October 14, 2026 (order date), the full Supreme Court granted the FCC’s application in No. 26A476, FCC v. Brown, and stayed the Fourth Circuit’s mandamus judgment in the candidates’ challenge to a Media Bureau ad-rate notice. As the per curiam puts it, “The Commission thus had 48 hours from the entry of the Fourth Circuit’s mandamus order to issue its final decision.” The Court held mandamus inappropriate: “Our system of separation of powers does not allow the Judiciary to meddle in” the workings of a coordinate branch in this manner. The stay runs “pending the filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari”. The companion application by the NRCC et al., No. 26A477, was “denied as moot”. Justice Sotomayor and Justice Jackson would deny the applications.

The opinion recites the chain behind it: the Bureau’s notice (2026-03-30–fcc-media-bureau-da-26-300-extends-lowest-unit-charge-to-party-coordinated-and-jfc-ads), the Fourth Circuit’s ruling setting it aside, and the Court’s earlier stay of that ruling (2026-09-04–scotus-stays-fourth-circuit-party-ad-rate-ruling-nrcc-v-brown). This order follows the Chief Justice’s administrative stay (2026-10-08–roberts-stays-fourth-circuit-order-fcc-political-party-ad-rates-26a476). It decides who controls the timing of the FCC’s review, not whether party ads are entitled to the favorable rate: the Court did not reach the merits of the notice, and the Commission’s decision on the candidates’ application remained pending in the sources read for this entry.