Brown, et al. v. Federal Communications Commission, et al. (Lowest Unit Charge)

On July 16, 2026, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to set aside guidance issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that extends the “lowest unit charge” advertising discount — which, under federal communications law, is reserved for candidates — to party committees coordinating with candidates and joint fundraising committees (JFCs) involving candidates. CLC’s brief explains that because of the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) deeply flawed actions on two 2024 advisory opinion requests, super PACs and candidates are able to join forces as participants in JFCs, and these JFCs can run campaign-style ads expressly advocating for candidates. Moreover, the super PACs participating in these JFCs can largely, if not entirely, pay for the ads. The brief argues that the FCC’s guidance thus effectively provides the lowest unit charge to super PACs, so long as they purchase ad time through the guise of a JFC. As the brief highlights, this outcome is contrary to the plain language and purpose of the lowest-unit-charge federal statute and stands to harm our election system by incentivizing coordination between candidates and super PACs via joint fundraising.