SCOTUS Decision Delivers FCC Victory for Consumers, Says National Consumers League

Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829

Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided 8-1 in FCC v. AT&T that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can continue assessing fines under the agency’s founding statute. Wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon attempted to escape liability for tens of millions of dollars related to consumer privacy violations by suing to disarm the FCC, rather than defending their business practices. NCL, two former chairs of the FCC, and five other public interest organizations filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court to defend the agency earlier this year.

“As our personal data has become more insecure than ever, it is critical that we have strong regulators who are equipped to protect us from privacy violations,” said NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud John Breyault. “Congress made clear that the FCC’s job is to make sure that consumers’ sensitive communications data is protected. The FCC, across bipartisan administrations, has faithfully applied these mandates. This ruling affirms that federal agencies should indeed be using their resources to protect the American public. Companies should not be able to escape accountability after harming consumers by concocting radical legal theories—and luckily today, they were unsuccessful.”

Democracy Forward Foundation provided pro bono counsel services for NCL in this proceeding. The full list of signatories to the March 2026 amicus brief are the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Consumer Reports, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the National Consumer Law Center, the National Consumers League, Public Knowledge, former FCC Chair Reed Hundt, and former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler.