SCOTUS Weighs Limits on Party Spending 12/09 06:05

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court is considering a Republican-led drive, 
backed by President Donald Trump's administration, to overturn a 
quarter-century-old decision and erase limits on how much political parties can 
spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president.

   A day after the justices indicated they would overturn a 90-year-old 
decision limiting the president's power to fire independent agency heads, the 
court is revisiting a 2001 decision that upheld a provision of federal election 
law that is more than 50 years old.

   Democrats are calling on the court to uphold the law.

   The limits stem from a desire to prevent large donors from skirting caps on 
individual contributions to a candidate by directing unlimited sums to the 
party, with the understanding that the money will be spent on behalf of the 
candidate.

   The Federal Election Commission and the GOP argue that the court should cast 
a skeptical eye on the limits, in line with recent high court decisions. Led by 
Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative majority has upended a variety of 
congressionally enacted limits on raising and spending money to influence 
elections. The court's 2010 Citizens United decision opened the door to 
unlimited independent spending in federal elections.

   After the Trump administration joined with Republicans to ask the court to 
strike down the campaign finance law, the justices appointed a lawyer to defend 
it.

   Roman Martinez, an experienced Supreme Court advocate, is offering the 
justices a way out of the case without deciding anything. Instead, they should 
hold the case is moot now that the FEC agrees with Republicans that the law is 
unconstitutional and there is "no credible risk" the agency will try to enforce 
it, Martinez wrote.

   The Republican committees for House and Senate candidates filed the lawsuit 
in Ohio in 2022, joined by two Ohio Republicans in Congress, then-Sen. JD 
Vance, now vice president, and then-Rep. Steve Chabot.

   In 2025, the coordinated party spending for Senate races ranges from 
$127,200 in several states with small populations to nearly $4 million in 
California. For House races, the limits are $127,200 in states with only one 
representative and $63,600 everywhere else.