Feds Ask Supreme Court to Preserve Universal Service Fund

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2024 – The Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department asked the Supreme Court Monday to strike down a July ruling that found an $8 billion broadband subsidy unconstitutional.

Universal Service Petition for Cert

The questions presented are as follows: 1. Whether Congress violated the nondelegation doctrine by authorizing the Commission to determine, within the limits set forth in Section 254, the amount that providers must contribute to the Fund. 2. Whether the Commission violated the nondelega-tion doctrine by using the Administrator’s financial pro-jections in computing universal service contribution rates. 3. Whether the combination of Congress’s conferral of authority on the Commission and the Commission’s delegation of administrative responsibilities to the Ad-ministrator violates the nondelegation doctrine.

Available for Breakfast Club Members

That Fifth Circuit decision “invalidates the system that the Commission has used for a quarter century to implement an important Act of Congress,” the agencies wrote. “If left in place, the decision will upend the universal service programs, to the detriment of millions of consumers nationwide.”

The FCC’s Universal Service Fund supports building and maintaining rural broadband infrastructure, plus internet discounts for low-income households, schools, libraries, and healthcare centers. Set up in 1996, it’s funded by fees on interstate voice revenue and managed on a day-to-day basis by the Universal Service Administrative Company, which the FCC stood up for that purpose.