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Supreme Court of the United States The United States Federal Communications Commission Universal Service Fund

The United States Supreme Court is the highest court of the United States and is charged with interpreting federal law, including the United States Constitution. The Court's docket is largely discretionary... more +
The United States Supreme Court is the highest court of the United States and is charged with interpreting federal law, including the United States Constitution. The Court's docket is largely discretionary with only a limited number of cases granted review each term.  The Court is comprised of one chief justice and eight associate justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to hold lifetime positions. less -
Venable LLP

Enduring Delegations - Supreme Court Rejects Nondelegation Challenges to the FCC’s Administration of the Universal Service Fund in...

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The nondelegation doctrine prevents Congress from giving away too much of its legislative power to other entities. After a strong showing in 1935, the nondelegation doctrine has remained dormant, with the Supreme Court...more

Perkins Coie

US Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of FCC’s Universal Service Fund

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Key Takeaways - - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FCC's Universal Service Fund (USF) scheme, ensuring its continued operation. - The Court rejected nondelegation doctrine challenges, finding Congress provided sufficient...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Circuit Split No More: U.S. Supreme Court Upholds FCC Universal Service Fund Authority

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that held both Congress’s delegation of USF authority to the FCC and the FCC’s subsequent delegation of its authority to a private administrator...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund

With their decision in the consolidated cases of Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers’ Research and SHLB Coalition v. Consumers’ Research, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Universal...more

Hogan Lovells

U.S. Supreme Court upholds FCC’s Universal Service Fund framework

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The Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Federal Communications Commission (FCC) v. Consumers’ Research removed the uncertainty that hung over the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF) programs since July 2024, when the U.S. Court...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Supreme Court Rules FCC’s Universal Service Fund Is Constitutional

On June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court decided FCC v. Consumers’ Research, No. 24-354 (U.S. June 2025), ruling that the Universal Service Fund’s (USF) contribution structure, as administered by the Federal Communications...more

Wiley Rein LLP

Supreme Court Declares Universal Service Fund Constitutional, Reversing Fifth Circuit Opinion

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On June 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, in FCC v. Consumers’ Research (Consumers’ Research), the constitutionality of the funding mechanism for the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC or Commission) Universal...more

DLA Piper

Supreme Court Upholds FCC’s Universal Service Fund Authority

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On June 27, 2025, the United States Supreme Court decided FCC v. Consumers’ Research, Nos. 24-354 & 24-422, upholding the constitutionality of the federal “universal service” statute, which establishes a Universal Service...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Supreme Court Preserves Federal Universal Service Program

The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the federal Universal Service Fund (USF)'s funding regime on the final day for releasing opinions of its 2024 term. In FCC v. Consumers' Research, the Court reversed the U.S....more

Fisher Phillips

SCOTUS Saves E-Rate Program, Preserving Tech Funding for Schools Across the Country

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In a major victory for public institutions and the tech companies that support them, the U.S. Supreme Court just preserved the federal funding lifeline that underpins internet access and telecommunications connectivity in...more

Lerman Senter PLLC

Supreme Court Upholds Federal Universal Service Fund Contribution Framework

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The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s universal service fund (USF) framework....more

Dickinson Wright

Are We Living in The Jetsons’ Future? Telehealth, Broadband, and Policy Shifts

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The future of healthcare once seemed like science fiction—think of The Jetsons, the iconic 1960s animated show where families communicate via video calls and receive virtual checkups. But today, telehealth has rapidly become...more

Venable LLP

Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Nondelegation Case Implicating the Powers of Administrative Agencies

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On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers’ Research (consolidated with SHLB Coalition v. Consumers’ Research), a case about the role of executive administrative...more

Mintz - Technology, Communications & Media...

Supreme Court Confirms That the Federal Claims Act Applies to the FCC's E-rate Program

Last Friday, in Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Heath, the Supreme Court unanimously held that requests for funding from the FCC’s E-rate program are “claims” for purposes of the False Claims Act (FCA), settling...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Supreme Court Allows Treble-Damage False Claims Actions To Proceed Against E-Rate Service Providers

Broadband and telecommunications service providers should redouble efforts to comply with the rules of the FCC's "E-Rate" program that subsidizes service to schools and libraries as a result of a Supreme Court ruling that...more

Cozen O'Connor

Bipartisan AGs Support Universal Service Fund

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A bipartisan coalition of 22 AGs and the Maine Office of the Public Advocate filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in consolidated cases FCC v. Consumers’ Research (No. 24-354) and Schools, Health & Libraries...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

The Post-Election Future of the Universal Service Fund

The constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund (USF) funding mechanism is currently being litigated, and its future has long been the subject of debate in Congress. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit found the...more

Baker Botts L.L.P.

High Court To Review Legality Of FCC's Subsidy Fees

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For decades, there has been broad, bipartisan support for the Universal Service Fund and the FCC programs that help communications reach low-income households and the most rural and least-connected communities in the United...more

McCarter & English Blog: Government Contracts...

Wisconsin Bell: Testing the Elasticity of False Claims Act’s Scope

Just how broad is the scope of the False Claims Act (FCA)? That is the basic question posed in Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Heath, No. 23-1127. Put more directly, the case addresses whether reimbursement requests...more

Wiley Rein LLP

Fifth Circuit Declares Universal Service Fund Unconstitutional; Issue Likely Headed for U.S. Supreme Court

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On July 24, 2024, on a petition for rehearing en banc, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in Consumers’ Research v. FCC (Consumers’ Research) that the current funding mechanism for the Universal...more

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