Consumers’ Research Likes Its Odds Against USF at Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2024 – The Federal Communications Commission asked the Supreme Court Monday to review a July ruling that found the agency’s main broadband subsidy unconstitutional. The conservative nonprofit that challenged the fund isn’t necessarily opposed to that.

The nonprofit, Consumers’ Research, has been challenging the $8 billion Universal Service Fund in court for years.

The group has claimed Congress didn’t put enough guardrails on the program when it established the USF, which is funded by fees levied on telecom providers, and that the FCC improperly delegated authority to the nonprofit it set up to manage the fund.