The Supreme Court handed Republicans a significant First Amendment victory Tuesday, striking down decades-old federal limits on how much national political party committees can spend in coordination with their own candidates.
In a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the court ruled that the restrictions violate the First Amendment, concluding that the government cannot limit coordinated political spending by parties and candidates simply because it involves money.
The case was brought by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), Vice President JD Vance — who joined the lawsuit while running for the Senate in Ohio in 2022 — and former Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio). The Trump administration’s Federal Election Commission sided with the challengers, arguing the restrictions were unconstitutional.
“The First Amendment protects the right of political parties to engage in core political speech,” Kavanaugh wrote for the majority, finding that coordinated expenditures between parties and their own nominees deserve constitutional protection.
The ruling eliminates one of the last remaining federal restrictions governing how closely national party committees can financially coordinate with candidates during campaigns.
Long-Standing Limits Fall
Federal law previously allowed political parties to spend unlimited amounts independently to support candidates, but imposed caps on spending coordinated directly with campaigns.
That coordinated spending can include paying for campaign advertising, consultants, candidate travel, fundraising efforts, and other activities planned jointly with a campaign.
Those limits varied by race, reaching nearly $4 million in some Senate contests and roughly $127,000 for at-large House races.
Republicans argued those restrictions had become increasingly irrational after a series of Supreme Court rulings — most notably the landmark 2010 Citizens United decision — allowed unlimited independent spending by outside groups such as super PACs.
Their argument was straightforward: outside organizations could spend unlimited sums supporting candidates, but the political parties themselves faced constitutional restrictions when helping their own nominees.
Another Major Campaign Finance Shift
Tuesday’s decision continues the Supreme Court’s long trend of rolling back campaign finance regulations.
Over the past two decades, the court has repeatedly narrowed Congress’ ability to regulate political spending, including Citizens United v. FEC in 2010 and McCutcheon v. FEC in 2014, both of which expanded constitutional protections for political spending under the First Amendment.
Republicans argued the coordinated spending caps placed official party organizations at a disadvantage compared to super PACs and other outside groups that already face few spending restrictions.
Supporters of the challenge also contended that strengthening party committees could reduce the influence of outside organizations by allowing official party organizations to play a larger role in campaigns.
Democrats Warn of More Money in Politics
Democrats and campaign finance advocates opposed eliminating the restrictions, arguing they were one of the last safeguards preventing wealthy donors from using party committees to funnel additional money into federal campaigns.
They warned the decision could further increase the influence of large donors and weaken remaining campaign finance protections.
The Supreme Court’s three liberal justices dissented, continuing a long-running divide over whether campaign finance laws primarily protect elections from corruption or improperly restrict political speech.
A Victory Years in the Making
The case began after Vance’s successful 2022 Senate campaign, when he and Republican congressional campaign committees challenged the coordinated spending limits in federal court.
Lower courts initially upheld the restrictions based on a 2001 Supreme Court precedent. But with the court’s current conservative majority, Republicans successfully persuaded the justices to overturn that earlier ruling and strike down the limits altogether.
The decision is expected to reshape campaign strategy ahead of future federal elections by allowing national party committees to work far more closely — and spend far more heavily — alongside their candidates.
