Supreme Court Argument on Universal Service on March 26

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2025 – The Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether an $8 billion-per-year broadband subsidy is unconstitutional on March 26. The high court set its schedule for the hearing Monday.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July 2024 that the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund illegally took taxing power from Congress.

Stood up with the 1996 Telecom Act, the program supports rural broadband networks and internet discounts for low-income households, schools, libraries, and healthcare centers. It’s funded by fees on interstate voice revenue.

After a string of unsuccessful legal challenges to the fund by conservative nonprofit Consumers’ Research, including at the Fifth Circuit, a full panel of judges reheard the case and said the law standing up the fund provided too little guidance and that the FCC’s delegation of accounting work to a nonprofit was improper. The court didn’t rule specifically on either issue, but instead found the combination of the two factors was unconstitutional. 

The agency defended itself on all three questions in its appeal to the Supreme Court. Both broadband industry groups and consumer advocates have also urged justices to uphold the fund.

The deadline for Consumers’ Research to file a response brief has been extended to include Tuesday, but a brief wasn’t posted on the Supreme Court’s docket at the time of this writing. 

Also on Monday, the FCC submitted a motion to divide oral arguments between the agency and a set of groups who are intervening in the case on the government’s side, including USTelecom and the Schools, Health, & Libraries Broadband Coalition.

“The private petitioners have a significant interest in the continued operation of the Universal Service Fund in particular and are well positioned to explain the effects of the court of appeals’ judgment on the Fund’s beneficiaries,” Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote.

Harris is a former clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas.

The government has changed its position on some pending litigation under the Trump administration, but not yet the Universal Service Fund case.