The Supreme Court will take up a case that may present significant changes to campaign finance policies. The case, National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, centers on whether limits on campaign spending by political parties violate the First Amendment.
“A political party exists to get its candidates elected,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) wrote in its petition to the Court. “Yet Congress has severely restricted how much parties can spend on their own campaign advertising if done in cooperation with those very candidates.”
“The question presented is: Whether the limits on coordinated party expenditures in 52 U.S.C. § 30116 violate the First Amendment, either on their face or as applied to party spending in connection with ‘party coordinated communications'” as defined in federal code, the petition says.
“Congress has built a wall of separation between party and candidate, forcing party committees to figure out how to get their candidates elected without hearing from them,” the petition further states. “That is the campaign ‘equivalent of prohibiting communication between a coach and quarterback late in a tied game.'”
Solicitor General John Sauer wrote in the Justice Department’s brief to the Court that while the DOJ usually defends federal statutes, it has determined that “this is the rare case that warrants an exception to that general approach.”
“This case involves a campaign-finance restriction that violates core First Amendment rights—a type of restriction that has previously led the government to file a brief expressing skepticism of the constitutionality of a federal statute,” Sauer wrote.
NRSC Chairman Tim Scott and NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson said in a joint statement that the government “should not restrict a party committee’s support for its own candidates.”
“These coordinated expenditure limits violate the First Amendment, and we appreciate the Court’s decision to hear our case,” they said. “Coordinated spending continues to be a critical part of winning campaigns, and the NRSC and NRCC will ensure we are in the strongest possible position to win in 2026 and beyond.”
