Supreme Court strikes down Watergate-era limits on campaign funds for political parties
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Set us as preferred WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down Watergate-era limits on how much political parties can spend in a coordinated campaign with their candidates.By a 6-3 vote, the court said the restrictions on parties and their campaign ads violate the 1st Amendment.Justice Brett M.
Kavanaugh said the court was restoring broad free speech protections for parties and their candidates.“For nearly 200 years after the ratification of the 1st Amendment, parties could spend freely to support their candidates during campaigns and could do so in coordination with the candidates,” he wrote.
“Notably, no one suggests ‘that these elections were not functional or that they were marred by corruption’.”The decision is a victory for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and is likely to give a boost to Republicans this year in their bid to maintain control of Congress.That’s because the national Republican committees that support their Congressional candidates have $230 million available to spend this year, while the struggling Democratic committees have less than $120 million.The party funding limits were challenged in 2022 in a lawsuit filed by JD Vance, who was then running in Ohio for a Senate seat, along with the Republican party committees.
Politics The conservative justices signaled they are likely to rule for Republicans and President Trump.It would allow parties to enlist the help of wealthy donors.Republicans argued these restrictions on parties were outdated and unwise in an era when “SuperPACs” can raise and spend huge amounts of money to promote candidates because they are independent.
If so, they asked, why shouldn’t the parties be free to raise money and coordinate their campaign ads with the candidates?Under the current limits, the Federal Election Commission says an ...