A recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has declared telecommunications subsidies for schools, low-income, and rural users as unconstitutional. This decision is seen as a significant development in the ongoing legal dispute over the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) authority to manage and distribute these funds. Read more.
Despite a warning from a bipartisan congressional group about the potentially devastating consequences of such a ruling, the court’s majority found that the subsidies did not align with constitutional mandates. Chief Judge Priscilla Richman was among the seven dissenters who opposed this view. The plaintiffs in this case, Consumers’ Research, argue that Congress violated the U.S. Constitution by permitting the FCC to subdelegate the funds collection process to a private entity.