
The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed likely to uphold an $8 billion program that subsidizes high-speed internet and phone service for millions of Americans, which has been challenged as being funded by an unconstitutional tax.
The case raises questions about how much Congress can “delegate” its legislative authority to a federal agency and whether the Supreme Court should tighten that standard.
Under a law Congress passed in 1996, telecommunications companies are charged a Universal Service Fund fee – passed on to customers − that boosts phone and internet service to households and hospitals in rural areas, low-income families, and public schools and libraries.