特朗普政府周四敦促最高法院训斥一家下级法院再次介入两大主要政党之间的一场法律纠纷，该纠纷涉及在大选前谁有资格获得更廉价的电视广告费率。最高法院上月站在共和党一边，裁定民主党起诉过早，需要等待联邦通信委员会（FCC）审查他们的论点。美国第四巡回上诉法院警告称，随着11月大选临近，联邦通信委员会正在“拖延脚步”以避免司法审查。法官们命令联邦通信委员会最迟于周五美国东部时间中午前回应民主党的论点，以便推进程序。
The Trump administration on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to chastise a lower court for intervening — again — in a legal fight between the two major political parties over who can access cheaper television advertising rates in the lead-up to an election. The Supreme Court sided with the GOP last month, ruling that Democrats went to court too early and needed to wait for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to review their arguments. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit has warned the FCC is now “dragging its feet” to avoid judicial review as November's contests approach. The judges ordered the FCC to respond to Democrats’ arguments by noon EDT Friday so things can move forward.
“总之，第四巡回法院当初试图越过委员会的决定严重错误，现在试图短路委员会的审议同样严重错误，”司法部长D·约翰·索尔在致最高法院的信中写道。索尔请求在周五截止日期前立即介入。他希望大法官们明确告知第四巡回法院，他们无权强制联邦通信委员会采取行动，也不应在中期选举前再次就该问题进行干预。
“In sum, just as the Fourth Circuit seriously erred when it first tried to leap-frog the Commission’s decision, it has now seriously erred in trying to short-circuit the Commission’s deliberations,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote to the Supreme Court. Sauer asked for an immediate intervention ahead of the Friday deadline. He wants the justices to make clear to the 4th Circuit they can’t compel the FCC to act and shouldn’t intervene on the issue again ahead of the midterms.
这场法律斗争涉及一项联邦授权，即广播电台必须在大选前60天内向竞选活动提供其最低可用广告费率。所有人都同意候选人可以获得折扣，但政党和联合筹款委员会是否也能享受该待遇一直存在争议。共和党主张可以——希望这能帮助他们更好地利用资金优势——而民主党主张不可以。在第四巡回法院在案件早期阶段支持民主党后，共和党将案件提交至最高法院的紧急审理程序。
The legal battle concerns a federal mandate that broadcast stations offer their lowest available advertising rate to campaigns in the 60 days preceding a general election. Everyone agrees candidates get the discount, but whether political parties and joint fundraising committees can, too, has come under question. Republicans argue yes — hoping it will help them put their cash advantage to better use — while Democrats argue no. After the 4th Circuit agreed with Democrats at an earlier stage of the case, Republicans brought the case to the Supreme Court's emergency docket.
在自由派大法官凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊的反对意见下，多数派上月裁定，民主党在联邦通信委员会解决其寻求审查广告政策的请愿之前，无法寻求司法帮助。
Over liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent, the majority ruled last month that Democrats couldn’t seek the judiciary’s help until after the FCC resolved their petition seeking review of the ad policy.
这意味着共和党竞选机构在此期间可以享受该折扣。然而，这并非对该政策实际合法性的最终裁决，案件被发回第四巡回法院进行进一步审理。周三，第四巡回法院以2比1裁定，鉴于大选临近，联邦通信委员会（FCC）需要加快行动。“FCC的行为不仅令人遗憾——更是对宪法分权原则的攻击。简单来说，FCC无视国会的法定指令和既定的司法审查原则，”多数派法官写道。
It meant Republican campaign arms could access the discount in the meantime. It wasn’t a final decision on the actual legality of the policy, however, and the case headed back to the 4th Circuit for more proceedings. On Wednesday, the 4th Circuit ruled 2-1 that the FCC needed to move along given the fast-approaching elections. “The FCC’s actions are not only unfortunate — but also an assault on our Constitution’s separation of powers. Put simply, the FCC has thumbed its nose at Congress’s statutory commands and the settled principle of judicial review,” the majority wrote.