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  "description": "Fifth Circuit stay halts proceedings in Consumers’ Research v. FCC until government funding resumes",
  "path": "/appeals-court-grants-fcc-request-to-pause-usf-challenge/",
  "publishedAt": "2025-11-05T22:22:23.000Z",
  "site": "https://broadbandbreakfast.com",
  "tags": [
    "_a request_",
    "__Consumers’ Research v. FCC__",
    "_are asking_",
    "_38.1 percent_",
    "_in June_",
    "_on Oct. 1_",
    "_its motion_",
    "_moved to_",
    "_a motion_"
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  "textContent": "WASHINGTON, November 5, 2025 – The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday paused proceedings in the latest case targeting the federal Universal Service Fund.\n\nThe court granted _a request_ filed Friday by the Federal Communications Commission to stay proceedings in ____Consumers’ Research v. FCC__ while the Justice Department and the FCC remain unfunded during the ongoing federal government shutdown.\n\nThe government shutdown “has effectively eliminated the ability of counsel who have worked on and are familiar with this case to handle the litigation while the lapse in appropriations continues,” wrote FCC counsel **Jacob Lewis** in the agency’s Oct. 31 motion.\n\nThe Fifth Circuit’s order, signed by Judge **Stuart Kyle Duncan** , freezes further activity in the case until 14 days after Congress restores government appropriations.\n\nConsumers’ Research and other petitioners _are asking_ the Fifth Circuit to review the FCC’s proposed fourth quarter 2025 USF contribution factor, set at _38.1 percent_.\n\nThe rate determines how much of telecom providers’ interstate and international revenues must be contributed to the USF to finance broadband and phone programs for schools, libraries, rural health clinics, and low-income households.\n\nThe case marks a continuation of efforts by Consumers’ Research to dismantle the $8.6-billion USF after the Supreme Court _in June_ upheld the fund’s constitutionality in a 6-3 decision.\n\nSince Consumers’ Research refreshed its challenge _on Oct. 1_, at least three sets of stakeholders have sought to intervene in support of the FCC, framing the case as a direct threat to broadband access and rural connectivity. All three motions were opposed by Consumers’ Research.\n\nOn Oct. 30, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association said in _its motion_ that a ruling against the FCC could derail billions of dollars in planned rural network investments.\n\n“A 2024 survey of NTCA members indicated that, without USF support, these businesses could be compelled to cancel almost two billion dollars’ worth of rural broadband deployment projects in 2025 and 2026 alone,” wrote NTCA counsel **Jennifer Tatel**.\n\nA day earlier, on Oct. 29, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, and Media Justice, jointly _moved to_ intervene, emphasizing that dismantling the fund would widen the digital divide by cutting off support for schools, libraries, and low-income households.\n\nThat same day, the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, a longtime defender of USF, also filed _a motion_ to intervene, arguing that USF funds “vitally important programs that support affordable telecommunications and internet access.”\n\nWith the case now stayed, the FCC’s Nov. 10 deadline to file the administrative record was suspended until 14 days after the government reopens.",
  "title": "Appeals Court Grants FCC Request to Pause USF Challenge",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-11T05:43:32.715Z"
}