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Friday, October 9, 2026

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Supreme Court · Friday, October 9, 2026

Roberts pauses an order forcing the FCC to rule on political-ad discounts by Friday noon

The File desk · Oct 9, 2026, 10:52 AM UTC

Status

Confirmed. Chief Justice John Roberts's order in FCC v. Brown, No. 26A476, dated Oct. 8, 2026, and the government's stay application. This is a short pause, not a ruling on who is right.

  • Confirmed

    Roberts stayed the Fourth Circuit's Oct. 7 order in case No. 26-2230. A response is due Saturday, Oct. 10, by 5 p.m. Eastern.

  • Confirmed

    Language from the appeals court in this story is quoted from the government's application. This desk did not open the Fourth Circuit opinion.

By law, television and radio stations must sell ads to candidates at their lowest rate in the weeks before an election. Whether party committees get that discount too has been in court all fall. Four Democratic candidates, Sherrod Brown, Jon Ossoff, Roy Cooper, and Kristen McDonald Rivet, say they do not. On Wednesday a divided federal appeals court ordered the Federal Communications Commission to decide by noon Friday. On Thursday the government asked the Supreme Court to step in, and Chief Justice John Roberts paused that order while the Court considers it. The candidates must respond by 5 p.m. Saturday.

Roberts's order, in FCC v. Sherrod Brown, No. 26A476, says the Oct. 7, 2026, judgement of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, case No. 26-2230, is stayed pending further order of the Chief Justice or of the Court. It orders a response on or before Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, by 5 p.m. Eastern. The order uses the spelling “judgement.” This kind of pause is an administrative stay. It is not a decision on the merits.

The fight is about the

in , a rule in the . In the 45 days before a primary and the 60 days before a general election, a station cannot charge a legally qualified candidate more than its lowest rate for the same kind of ad time. The government's application quotes that text. The candidates named in the application are Sherrod Brown, John Ossoff, Roy Cooper, and Kristen McDonald Rivet. The application spells the senator John. His Senate website spells the name Jon Ossoff. This story uses Jon. The National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee are also respondents.

The government's timeline, from the application: On March 30 the FCC Media Bureau issued a notice saying candidates, some joint fundraising committees, and parties doing coordinated activity get the

. On April 29 the four candidates asked the full commission to review it. On Aug. 25 a divided Fourth Circuit panel held the notice unlawful. On Sept. 4 the Supreme Court stayed that ruling, in an earlier case, NRCC v. Brown, No. 26A274. On Sept. 8 the candidates sought a , a rare court order telling an agency to do something the law requires. The government says 47 U.S.C. § 155(c)(4) requires the commission to act on the review request but sets no deadline. On Oct. 7 the panel granted and ordered a decision by noon on Oct. 9.

The government quotes the panel as saying the commission “delayed agency review in an obvious effort to preclude judicial review prior to the November 3 election.” It says Judge Wynn concurred and Judge Wilkinson dissented, calling the order a direct affront to the Court's stay. Those words are from the application. This desk did not open the Fourth Circuit opinion. The government asks for a stay and for an instruction that the Fourth Circuit issue no further orders on the notice until after this year's elections. The Republican National Committee filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Oct. 8. This story does not predict what the Court will do.

What is still unknown or disputed

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Order, FCC v. Sherrod Brown, No. 26A476

    Supreme Court of the United States · October 8, 2026

    IT IS ORDERED that the October 7, 2026 judgement of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, case No. 26-2230, is hereby stayed pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court.

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/100826zr_b97c.pdf

  2. Source 2

    Docket, No. 26A476

    Supreme Court of the United States · October 8, 2026

    Application (26A476) for a stay, submitted to The Chief Justice.

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a476.html

  3. Source 3

    Application to stay the Fourth Circuit order

    Solicitor General D. John Sauer · October 8, 2026

    the panel granted , ordering the FCC to issue a decision by noon tomorrow, October 9.

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26A476/428838/20261008100330382_FCC%20v%20Brown%20Stay%20Application.pdf

  4. Source 4

    U.S. Senator for Georgia Jon Ossoff

    U.S. Senate · October 9, 2026

    The page title reads U.S. Senator for Georgia Jon Ossoff.

    https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/