Participants to Fifth Circuit: USF is Still Valid

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2026 – Groups representing fund participants and consumer advocates are again asking judges not to overturn the $8 billion-per-year Universal Service Fund.

After losing on the issue in a 6-3 Supreme Court decision, conservative nonprofit Consumers’ Research filed another lawsuit in October alleging parts of the Telecom Act of 1996 gave unfettered taxing power to the Federal Communications Commission. The group took up arguments from Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch ’s dissent.

“Indeed, Petitioners’ introduction section cites the dissent more than the majority opinion,” NTCA, which represents hundreds of rural ISPs that participate in USF, said in a Friday filing. “But the dissent is not the law, no matter how much Petitioners would prefer otherwise.”

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