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4 

BARR v. AMERICAN ASSN. OF POLITICAL  
CONSULTANTS, INC. 
Opinion of KAVANAUGH, J. 

Twenty-four  years  later,  in  2015,  Congress  passed  and 
President Obama signed the Bipartisan Budget Act.  In ad-
dition to making other unrelated changes to the U. S. Code, 
that Act amended the TCPA’s restriction on robocalls to cell 
phones.  It stated: 

“(a)  IN  GENERAL.—Section  227(b)  of  the  Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U. S. C. 227(b)) is amended— 

(1) in paragraph (1)— 

(A)  in  subparagraph  (A)(iii),  by  inserting  ‘,  unless 
such call is made solely to collect a debt owed to or guar-
anteed  by  the  United  States’  after  ‘charged  for  the 
call.’ ”  129 Stat. 588.2 

In other words, Congress carved out a new government-

debt exception to the general robocall restriction. 

The TCPA imposes tough penalties for violating the ro-
bocall restriction.  Private parties can sue to recover up to
$1,500  per  violation  or  three  times  their  actual  monetary 
losses,  which  can  add  up  quickly  in  a  class  action. 
§227(b)(3).    States  may  bring  civil  actions  against  ro-
bocallers  on  behalf  of  their  citizens.    §227(g)(1).  And  the 

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healthcare-related calls.  In this case, plaintiffs do not separately chal-
lenge the validity of the FCC’s regulatory exceptions. 

2 After the 2015 amendment, §227(b)(1) now provides: 
“It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States, or any
person  outside  the  United  States  if  the  recipient  is  within  the  United
States— 

(A) to make any call (other than a call made for emergency purposes 
or  made  with  the  prior  express  consent  of  the  called  party)  using  any 
automatic  telephone  dialing  system  or  an  artificial  or  prerecorded 
voice— 

.

 .

 .

 .

 . 

(iii) to any telephone number assigned to a paging service, cellular tel-
ephone service, specialized mobile radio service, or other radio common 
carrier service, or any service for which the called party is charged for 
the call, unless such call is made solely to collect a debt owed to or guar-
anteed by the United States.”  (Emphasis added.)