USF

High Court Watcher: SCOTUS Might Not Want to Upend Universal Service

The high court agreed Friday to review a decision finding the $8 billion-per-year broadband subsidy unconstitutional.

Jake Neenan

Nov 26, 2024 — 2 min read

Steve Vladek, CNN Supreme Court analyst and a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, from C-Span

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2024 – The Supreme Court might not be eager to rule the Universal Service Fund’s contribution scheme unconstitutional, according to one court analyst.

The high court agreed Friday to review a Fifth Circuit decision that found the $8 billion-per-year broadband subsidy, funded by fees on telecom providers, illegally took taxing power away from the legislature.

Steve Vladek, CNN’s Supreme Court Analyst and a Georgetown law professor, noted in his newsletter Monday that justices added in their order a question about whether or not the case was moot – conservative nonprofit Consumers’ Research had challenged a USF contribution factor for the first quarter of 2022, money that’s already been collected and paid out.

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USF Steve Vladek Blair Levin Consumers’ Research Trent McCotter SCOTUS FCC