USF

Consumers’ Research Still Says Portions of Universal Service Fund Unconstitutional

The group argued that two provisions of the Telecom Act cannot stand because otherwise they would give the FCC ‘virtually unbounded authority’

Jake Neenan

Jan 16, 2026 — 3 min read

Photo of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch by Damian Dovarganes/AP

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16, 2026 – Despite the program being upheld by the Supreme Court last year, Consumers’ Research told federal judges this week parts of the law creating the $8 billion-per-year Universal Service Fund are still unconstitutional.

Those two provisions “give FCC virtually unbounded authority to raise funds for schools, libraries, and health care providers, unconstitutionally delegating to FCC the taxing power reserved to Congress by Article I” of the U.S. Constitution, the group argued in a Monday brief.

The nonprofit lost 6-3 at the high court last year after a previous challenge to the broadband subsidy. The majority said that the Telecom Act of 1996 put adequate guardrails on the Federal Communications Commission’s management of the fund and the program thus did not illegally take taxing power away from the legislature.

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USF FCC Supreme Court Consumers’ Research Neil Gorsuch Clarence Thomas Samuel Alito Brett Kavanaugh SHLB

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