Overview
- Oral arguments Tuesday in NRSC v. FEC tested whether the Court will revisit a 2001 precedent that upheld caps on party spending coordinated with federal candidates.
- Republican committees, joined in the suit by JD Vance and Steve Chabot, argued the limits violate the First Amendment, and the Trump Justice Department urged the justices to strike them down.
- The justices appointed Roman Martinez to defend the law after the government declined to do so, and he pressed a mootness argument based on the federal position that the rule will not be enforced.
- Democratic campaign committees and public-interest groups urged the Court to preserve the caps, warning that eliminating them would let big donors route far larger sums to benefit specific candidates.
- The FEC’s 2025 coordinated caps include $63,600 for most House races and up to about $3.95 million for Senate races in California, and a ruling is expected by the end of June 2026.