Emergency application
Lowest rates for candidate ads
National Republican Congressional Committee v. Sherrod Brown
What did the Court do?
The Court granted the request on September 4, 2026: the lower court's ruling is on hold while the appeal continues.
Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case. Justice Jackson would have ruled the other way.
What's being asked
Two Republican campaign committees—the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee—ask the Court to pause the Fourth Circuit order. That order set aside an FCC notice about candidates’ legally required lowest broadcast-ad rates. The notice said political parties engaged in coordinated political activity and joint fundraising groups with noncandidate members could qualify for those rates. The Democratic candidates argued that only candidates should qualify. The committees say the appeals court wrongly read a candidate’s use of an ad as requiring the candidate to pay for it alone.
What the Court did
The Court granted the committees’ emergency request, temporarily pausing (staying) the Fourth Circuit’s ruling that set aside the FCC notice. If the committees timely seek Supreme Court review, the pause remains until that review is resolved. The order does not decide the underlying dispute. Justice Jackson dissented (disagreed with the result); the order gives no vote count.
- Dissented
- Vote not published
- Dissenting · 1recorded against the Court's order
What it means
This emergency pause is temporary and does not decide whether the FCC notice was lawful or who wins. The Fourth Circuit’s order is on hold, so the notice is not set aside during the pause. No related Supreme Court case for a full decision is listed, and no argument date is set.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 26A274. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.