The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge brought by Republican committees and Vice President JD Vance to federal campaign finance rules that limit spending coordinated between political parties and candidates. The case originated during Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign in Ohio and questions whether restrictions on such spending violate First Amendment protections. The court will take up the matter in its next term starting in October.
The plaintiffs—including the National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, and former Congressman Steve Chabot—argue the limits “severely restrict political party committees from doing what the First Amendment entitles them to do: fully associate with and advocate for their own candidates for federal office.” The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the limits last year, citing a 2001 Supreme Court ruling. Lawyers for President Donald Trump’s administration supported the appeal and asked the court to appoint a third party to defend the existing law.
The justices also approved a motion from the Democratic National Committee and related groups to intervene in defense of the spending limits. “The Republican Party has spent decades trying to eliminate statutory limits on political party expenditures that are coordinated with candidates’ campaigns,” attorney Marc Elias said. The challenge follows a broader trend in campaign finance litigation, including the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which struck down limits on independent expenditures by outside groups.
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