Universal Service Fund a ‘Nightmare’, Says Litigation Foe

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 2025 – The conservative nonprofit challenging an $8 billion-per-year broadband subsidy urged the Supreme Court to find the program unconstitutional Tuesday, calling it a “bureaucrat’s dream” and a “nightmare.” The group argued Congress should have to set a cap on the fund’s contribution rate.

Consumers’ Research began its lengthy brief by asking justices to imagine the Internal Revenue Service could tax the public at amounts it saw fit with only minimal guidance.

“As it turns out, no imagination is required. This nightmare scenario already exists in the form of the Universal Service Fund (USF),” the group wrote.