The US Supreme Court on Tuesday erased longstanding federal campaign finance rules that limited how much national political party committees can spend in coordination with candidates for president and Congress. In a 6-3 decision, the court's conservative majority struck down a federal election law that was more than 50 years old, which had been passed post-Watergate to limit the amount of money individuals could give to political parties.
The case, National Republican Senatorial Committee v Federal Election Commission, stemmed from a 2022 lawsuit brought by Vice President JD Vance, former congressman Steve Chabot of Ohio, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the National Republican Congressional Committee. The challengers contested the Federal Election Commission’s enforcement of limits on coordinated party expenditures.
The ruling removes one of the last remaining barriers preventing wealthy donors from sending unlimited funds to federal political candidates and is likely to help Republicans in the November midterms. President Donald Trump described the decision as a big win for Republicans on Truth Social. This decision is the latest in which the Supreme Court has weighed in on campaign finance rules.