The United States Supreme Court will listen to arguments on Wednesday on the financing mechanism of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a multimillion -dollar initiative aimed at expanding the Internet access from the telephone and broadband for rural Americans and low income.
The case follows a ruling from the lower court that considered the financing system unconstitutional, asking questions about the authority of the Federal Agency.
The FCC, supported by a coalition of telecommunications companies and interest groups, is appealing a decision of the 5th Court of Appeals of the United States Circuit. The Court previously determined that the FCC financing operation imposed a “erroneous tax” to US consumers, violating the assignment of legislative powers of the United States Constitution to Congress.
This case is among several recent challenges of the Supreme Court with respect to the authority of federal agencies.
A key issue in the case involves non -delegation doctrine, a legal principle that restricts Congress to transfer its constitutional powers to government agencies.
In the heart of the dispute is the Universal Service Fund, established under the Telecommunications Law of 1996. The Fund, which collects approximately $ 9 billion annually of telecommunications companies, is mainly financed by the contributions approved to consumers.
In addition, the case involves the private doctrine of non -delegation, since the FCC allocated fund management responsibilities to the administrative company of the Universal Service, a private entity.
This company determines the contribution amounts, collects the payments of telecommunications business and distributes funds to the beneficiaries, including low -income people, rural communities, American native tribal lands, schools and libraries.
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A group of challengers, including consumers of the conservative organization, a telecommunications and consumers carrier, brought the 5th circuit case in 2022.
They argued that Congress had effectively granted the authority without restrictions of the FCC to operate the fund, including the increase in income, a responsibility that constitutionally belongs to the congress.
In addition, they affirmed that the FCC illegally transferred the authority to the administrative company of the Universal Service, which allows it to play an excessive role in determining the contribution amounts.
The 5th Circuit, in a 9-7 decision in 2024, concluded that “the combination of the Congress delegation to the unauthorized subdelegation of the FCC and the FCC” to a private company violated the constitutional principle that the legislative powers rest with the Congress.
The ruling did not approach the statements of public and private delegation separately, but found that the general financing structure is not constitutional.
Federal Courts of Appeal have reached different conclusions regarding this legal issue, which leads to the review of the Supreme Court.
The FCC argues that the Congress legally trained the agency to administer the fund and that the 5th circuit underestimated the scope of the orientation provided in the 1996 Law. It also argues that it did not incorrectly delegate government power to the administrative company of the Universal Service.
The FCC, an independent federal agency established in 1934, operates under the supervision of Congress. In recent years, the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority of 6-3, has restricted the actions of federal regulatory agencies in various decisions, although none directly involved the non-delegation doctrine.
(Reuters)
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